Main giant British capital

Big Ben - SYMBOL Albion City of London, the capital of Great Britain, is rich in cultural and historical monuments. In this city attractions are so numerous that in order to study them, you may need a few weeks. Symbols of London are the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, all of which together constitute a complex of Westminster Palace. In this remarkable architectural ensemble stands the clock tower Big Ben, which is located on the banks of the River Thames, in the most significant areas of London - Westminster. Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey and Saint Margaret's Church are included in UNESCO cultural heritage list in 1987. Meetings of the Palace of Westminster British Parliament pass in the halls of Westminster, the first buildings that were built in the XI century, one of the last Anglo-Saxon King Edward III the Confessor. Westminster Palace was the residence of British governors until 1512, when most of the buildings was destroyed by fire. During the reign of Henry VIII's palace building was restored, but now here sat parliament. In the XIX century, the palace suffered another fire, which destroyed both the meeting hall of the parliament. One year later, in 1835, the building was restored by acquiring a characteristic form corresponding to the style of Queen Elizabeth, which has been preserved to this day. One of the most famous parts of the palace and a symbol of London is the clock tower of St. Stephen, better known as Big Ben. Symbol of the United Kingdom is actually Big Ben - is the biggest bell, placed in the tower and connected with a clockwork mechanism. Unique look and amazing architecture of Big Ben allowed him to become one of the main symbols of England. Quite often, Big Ben has become one of the main characters of various promotional campaigns, tourist brochures, films, etc. His name Big Ben was in honor of Sir Benjamin Hall, who led the work on the creation of a bell. The height of the tower is 61 meters History Big Ben began over 150 years ago, when in 1858 in London, was built a wonderful clock tower. The official launch of the movement took place May 21, 1859. Tower height is 61 meters, and own the watch is in 55 meters above the ground. The length of the minute hand on all four clock face is four meters. In addition to his tremendous size of Big Ben, known also by its exceptional accuracy. Twice a day the testimony of these hours sveveryayutsya data Greenwich Observatory. Dials Big Ben in diameter reach seven meters dials of these watches in diameter reach seven meters and the length of the arrows 2,7 and 4,2 meters, which is why Big Ben has long been considered the largest clock in the world. Under each of the dials can be seen the inscription, which translated from Latin means "God save our Queen Victoria I». At the clock tower has five bells that ring every 15 minutes. The biggest and loudest of them as time and bears the name of Big Ben. It can be heard every hour. This bell is considered the third heaviest bell in England, it weighs 13.8 tons.