Description of the attraction
Westminster Palace, also known as Houses of Parliament, is the seat of both Houses of the British Parliament, House of Commons and House of Lords.
The House of Commons is elected for a five-year term by universal, equal elections by secret ballot, and the House of Lords is not elected, consisting of two archbishops, 26 bishops of the Church of England ("spiritual lords") and 706 members of the peerage ("secular lords"). Spiritual Lords are present while they hold Church office, and secular Lords serve for life.
Palace of Westminster is located on the north bank of the River Thames in the heart of London. The first royal palace was built on this site in the 11th century. Probably the first king to settle here was the Great Cnut. Edward the Confessor founded Westminster Abbey here, but the buildings of those times have not survived. The earliest surviving buildings were built under King William II. The palace was considered the main residence of the kings of England, and meetings of the Royal Council, the predecessor of the English parliament, were also held here.
In 1530, King Henry VIII moved his official residence to Whitehall, and Westminster, although it continued to be considered a royal palace, was given over to the needs of Parliament. In the 18th century, the Houses of Parliament were remodeled and rebuilt in the neo-Gothic style by the architect James Wyatt.
In 1834, a fire broke out in the parliament building. The reason was a hot stove in which wooden Treasury tags were burned. The Tower of Jewels survived, in part - the church of St. Stephen, and at the cost of heroic efforts, Westminster Hall (1097) was defended from the fire. To carry out the reconstruction, a special Royal Commission was appointed, which, having considered 97 projects, chose the project of Charles Barry in the neo-Gothic style. The construction was mostly completed in 1860. Charles Barry was awarded a knighthood for his work.
The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster - Big Ben has become a hallmark of London, and Londoners have been checking time by this clock for more than a century. The second tower of the palace is called Victoria and serves as the parliamentary archive. It contains three million documents, the total length of the shelves for them is 8.8 km, including the original of the Bill of Rights and the death sentence of Charles I, as well as all parliamentary acts from 1497.
Tourists are practically not allowed into the parliament building. And if the citizens of the United Kingdom can get inside by agreement with their
member of parliament, then only organized excursions during the summer parliamentary holidays remain for foreign tourists. You can try to get into the building during the office hours of the deputies, but the number of visitors and applicants is limited, and there is no guarantee that you will be among them.
