Piccadilly Circus Today 4 London 1Piccadilly Circus2Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain3

London. London is the capital of Great Britain. It is on the river Thames. London is divided into three parts: West End, East End and the City (many historical monuments situated there).

There are a lot of places of interest in London. Among them there are: Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, St Pauls Cathedral, London Bridge, the Tower of London.

Piccadilly Circus Piccadilly Circus is the center of night life in the West End. This is one of the most popular meeting points of London, probably second only to Trafalgar Square.

It is actually quite small, and; most people are rather disappointed when they see it for the first time because they had imagined it would be much bigger.

The name Piccadilly originates from a seventeenth-century frilled collar named a piccadil. Roger Baker, a tailor who became rich making piccadils lived in the area. The word Circus refers to the roundabout around which the traffic circulated. However, its not a roundabout anymore.

Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain At the center of the Circus stands the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain. It was built in 1893 to commemorate Lord Shaftesbury, a philanthropist known for his support of the poor.

The seminude statue on top of the fountain depicts the Angel of Christian Charity but was later renamed Eros after the Greek god of love and beauty. The fountain was made in bronze, but the statue is made of aluminum, at the time a novel and rare material.

Piccadilly Circus Today Piccadilly Circus is now partly pedestrianized and a favorite place for people to congregate before going to the nearby shopping and entertainment areas. Soho, Chinatown, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square are all within walking distance.