London Fortress. Tower: description, history, excursions, exact address. The Tower Ravens are a legend

Tower (Great Britain) - description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.

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Tower of London became a symbol not only of London, but of the whole of Great Britain. It occupies a special place in British history, which is why the Tower is now one of the most visited architectural and historical attractions in the world.

At its core, the Tower is a fortress. It stands on the north bank of the Thames, is one of oldest buildings and England historical center London. The history of this fortress is checkered: it was originally built as defensive castle, and then it served as a zoo, a mint, an arsenal, a prison, an observatory, and a repository for royal jewelry.

The size of the Tower is 32 by 36 meters, the height of the towers is 30 meters.

History of the Tower

The Tower was built in 1078, and in 1190 the first prisoner was imprisoned in the fortress. In this prison for high-ranking people and royalty, only 7 executions were carried out, among the victims were wives Henry VIII Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, as well as the “Queen of the Nine Days” Jane Grey. From the first years of its existence, the Tower began to acquire all sorts of rumors and legends, sometimes very sinister. Some of them can be heard during tours of this famous fortress.

Museum

These days, the Tower of London looks almost the same as it did in the 11th century. Its main purpose is a museum with a rich collection and an armory; the treasures of the British crown are kept here. Officially, the fortress continues to be considered one of the royal residences. There are several private apartments here, where service personnel and sometimes distinguished guests live. The Tower offers excursions where the guides are Beefeaters - English guards. They are dressed in dark blue uniforms of the Victorian era, and on holidays - in luxurious costumes of the Tudor era, which arouses additional interest among tourists in the fortress.

Events in the Tower

In addition to the traditional viewing of exhibits and interiors, you can also have fun in the Tower: for example, from December 27 to 31 they celebrate New Year in medieval costumes. Tourists are greeted by King Richard III, knights and minstrels. Even if you don't know how to skate, don't miss the opportunity to have fun at the Tower Ice Rink. People come here in the morning, as a form of fitness at the beginning of the day, and in the evening, when they want romance: the fortress is illuminated with lights that are reflected in the ice. The skating rink is open from November 17 to January 2, ticket prices range from 10.5 to 14.5 EUR. Prices on the page are as of March 2019.

Practical information

Below are the online prices:

• Adults - 24.7 GBP,
• children from 5 to 15 years old - 11.7 GBP, children under 5 years old - free,
• tickets for students (from 16 years old), disabled people and pensioners (from 60 years old) - 19.3 GBP,
• family ticket (2 adults + up to 3 children) - 62.9 GBP,
• family ticket (1 adult + up to 3 children) - 44.4 GBP.

How to get to the Tower of London

Nearest tube station: Tower Hill (Tower of London entrance 5 minutes walk). Nearest train station: Fenchurch Street or London Bridge. Buses No. 15, 42, 78, 100, RV1. There are also services to Tower Pier every 20 minutes. water buses and high-speed catamarans from Charing Cross, Westminster and Greenwich.

The Tower of London (in English “the Tower of London”) is one of the most outstanding architectural monuments UK. For several centuries of its existence, it was an arsenal, a treasury, a place for storing royal jewelry, but it became most famous for its prison. Behind its high, thick walls, the lives of an infinite number of people ended, among whom were kings and dukes, rebels and rioters. And each of them knew the truth - whoever owns the Tower owns Britain. We invite you to plunge into the history of the great rise and fall of the monarchy.

Panorama of the Tower of London

History of the Tower of London

The history of this place is almost a thousand years old and goes back to the time of the Norman conquests. The Tower was built in 1078 as a fortress for the Norman Duke and then the British King William the Conqueror. After his victory over King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, he took the royal throne. However, troubled times and constant fear of English reprisals forced the king to create a reliable fort that would provide him with peace. With the rise to power of Henry III, in the 13th century, the Tower of London gloomy fortress turned into a full-fledged residence. He gave orders to create a treasury, a church and an office. Gardens and walking paths appeared on the territory. And it was at this time that London tower tower was painted in its already familiar white color.

During the reign of King Henry, the Tower began to be used as a prison, but during the same period it served as a palace in which important guests were received. They often visited the monarch with gifts in the form of livestock. It was for her that Henry III ordered the construction of the Lion Tower - a mini-zoo, where leopards, donated by the French king, even lived.

Another grandiose building adjacent to the castle is the bridge. It is distinguished by its design: suspended with an adjustable part. This year marks 124 years since its construction. During its existence, it repeatedly became cultural center city, because art exhibitions are held in special pedestrian corridors of the twin towers, and there is also a permanent exhibition dedicated to the history of the building. So the Tower of London and the bridge became the face of the capital.

Tower of London today

Although the history of the prison ended at the end of the 20th century, the fortress still retains most of its traditions today. One of them is the Key Ceremony. Every morning the palace is opened to visitors by Beefeaters - guards of the Tower of London. They received this unofficial name due to their history of serving the royal family. The guards who guarded the king received a significant advantage - they could eat the same meat as him. This is where this strange phrase “beef eater” comes from – someone who eats beef. These men also stood out for their appearance: A bright red uniform similar to Tudor era clothing.

Another integral component of the Tower of London is the ravens, the guardians of the kingdom. One of the local legends says that the British monarchy will exist as long as these birds live in the Tower. That is why a separate security worker takes care of the winged family here. Crows even have their wings clipped to prevent them from flying away in search of another home.

After the gates are closed, the building begins to live its normal life, becoming a cozy home for the guards and her family. However, can it be completely calm place, what became a dungeon for hundreds of people?

In the evening, an atmosphere of wary silence hangs over the castle, from time to time it is broken by the cawing of crows. Adding to the eeriness of the Tower of London are the descriptions of its guards. They talk about ghosts and spirits they have seen over the years. Legends of the Tower of London disturb your sleep local residents. Beefeaters even claim that after dark they try to avoid going into certain parts of the fortress.

How many guilty and innocent souls remain forever within the stone walls of this castle? How many of them are buried within these walls? Despite all the publicity tourist place how much does the Tower hide? interesting facts? There are many, and we will share a few of them with you.

The castle became Anne Boleyn's prison for life. The queen who was beheaded here, accused of treason during her lifetime, continues to wander the corridors even after her death. They say that her ghost periodically goes to the church where Anna was reburied.

Visitors are intimidated by ghostly bears. The guards say that from time to time guests are frightened by the ghost of a bear that once got out of the zoo and scared one of the inhabitants of the castle to death.

The peace of visitors to the Tower is disturbed by photographs in which the ghosts of two little boys appear. At the end of the 15th century, two princes, aged 10 and 12, disappeared in the fortress. Almost a hundred years later, their burials were discovered, and recently scientists found out that their relative King Henry VI was the killer of the royal heirs. Restless souls still walk around the Tower.

The last execution in the castle took place less than 80 years ago. During World War II, German spy Joseph Jacobs was shot in the fortress. And although Great Britain abandoned the death penalty almost twenty years later, in the 60s of the last century, the bloody history of the Tower ended there.

Great Britain almost lost its symbol during the German bombing. In the 1940s and 1941s, London suffered devastating damage from Nazi bombing. At the same time, all the crows living in the Tower, except one, died from stress. If you believe the legend, the fortress, and at the same time the monarchy, were one step away from collapse.

Where is the Tower: address, opening hours and excursions

The Tower of London is located at St Catherine's & Wapping, London EC3N 4AB. You can get to it by metro. The nearest station is Fenchurch Street, 5 minutes from the fortress, London Bridge station is a 15-minute walk.
The Tower is open from 09:00 to 17:30 on weekdays and from 10:00 on weekends. However, please note that tourists are allowed to enter until 17:00.

Entrance tickets can be purchased online and printed out yourself. Electronic tickets cheaper than those purchased directly on the spot. Entrance cost for adults is about 23 pounds, for children from 5 to 16 years old - 11 pounds. Children under 5 years old can enter free of charge. There are also discounts for students, people with disabilities and seniors.

Ganna Koval

In the celebratory publication, which was dedicated to the 900th anniversary of the foundation of the Tower, the Duke of Edinburgh wrote that during its history the Tower of London (from the English tower - tower) was both a fortress and a palace, was used as a repository for royal jewels, and was also an arsenal, and a mint, and an observatory, and a zoo, and a state archive, and a place of execution, and a prison, especially for members of the upper class.

The official name of the Tower of London is Her Highness's Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, but the last time rulers used the site as a palace was during the reign of King James I (1566–1625). The White Tower, a square building with small turrets at the top of each corner, gave its name to the Tower as a whole. It is located in the center of the entire complex of several buildings located along the River Thames.

The history of the Tower began in the 11th century, when Duke William of Normandy (later known as William the Conqueror) began to “look at” the green British Isles. 1066 - he and his army crossed the English Channel. On September 28, the Duke landed at Pevensey and immediately gave orders for the construction of the castle.

Two days later he went to Hastings and founded another castle there. Over the next few years, William and the Norman barons covered all of England with stone castles to keep the conquered country in line. For a long time, the Anglo-Saxons could not come to terms with the power of foreigners who spoke French, but the resistance of local residents could no longer change anything. A new page in the history of England has begun.

Most Norman castles in those days had an artificial hill on which the main fortifications were located. The Tower became a completely new type of fortress. Its territory, bounded by the remains of Roman fortress walls, did without artificial embankments.

The Norman donjons, which include the White Tower, had particularly strong walls, since the Normans initially did not surround their castles with other defensive structures. Impressive belts of fortifications with bastions began to be built around the White Tower only in the 13th century after the British became familiar with the practice of building castles in the East and in continental Europe. That is why the thickness of the walls of the White Tower, which was built two centuries earlier, reaches almost 4 meters!

Its dimensions are also unusual - 32.5 × 36 meters - with a height of 27 meters. It is second only to the keep in Colchester (Essex) and is one of the largest medieval donjons in Western Europe.

In terms of its configuration and layout of the premises, the White Tower belongs to a very rare group of dungeons, characteristic specifically for England, and, moreover, only for the 11th–12th centuries. It was built by Norman masons and surrounding Anglo-Saxon labourers, apparently to the design of Gandalf, Bishop of Rochester. It was assumed that the Tower of London would protect the river route from attacks, but first of all, it would rise above the city and protect the ruling dynasty from Anglo-Saxon citizens.

From the east and south, the White Tower was protected by the old walls of the Roman city, and from the north and west - defensive ditches up to 7.5 meters wide and up to 3.4 meters deep, as well as earthen fortifications with a wooden palisade on top.

The White Tower was only half completed when in 1087 its owner, William the Conqueror, died during military operations on the continent. Over the years, it was supplemented with 13 towers. The names of the towers remind of the life of the fortress in those ancient times, of the dark events associated with it.

Bloody Tower - according to legend, the crown princes, the children of Edward IV, were killed in it when Richard III seized power. Kolokolnaya - this is where the alarm sounded. Salt, Well... The huge tower of St. Thomas, straddling the moat on the Thames side, is the main “water gate” of the fortress. Through the Gate of Traitors, located under the tower, his prisoners were brought to the Tower. The bell tower is one of the most famous structures of the fortress. It was built in the 1190s. For 500 years, the evening bell has been heard from here - a sign for extinguishing light and fire, although the current bell was installed only in 1651.

From the earliest times of the Tower's history, there was a constable's residence next to the Bell Tower. During Tudor times, when the deputy constable was entrusted with guarding Tower prisoners, the Bell Tower became the place of imprisonment for the most important persons. Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth I, was kept there in 1554. She was interrogated for 2 months, as she was suspected of plotting against her half-sister Mary I.

Sir Thomas More, the former Chancellor of the Kingdom, author of the famous novel "Utopia", was imprisoned in the Bell Tower on April 17, 1534 for refusing to recognize Henry VIII as the head of the Anglican Church instead of the Pope. He was executed on Tower Hill on July 6, 1535.

The Commandant of the Tower of London lives in the Queen's House (a white building trimmed with ebony next to the Bloody Tower). Many high-ranking prisoners lived here. 1605 - in the Council Chamber, located on the top floor, before and after torture, Guy Fawkes was interrogated, accused of participating in the Gunpowder Plot against James I. Guy Fawkes was later executed.

One prisoner of the Queen's House was able to escape on the eve of his execution. He was the Scottish Earl of Nithsdale, captured after the defeat of the Jacobite uprising trying to overthrow George I. He escaped by disguising himself as a woman and dressing in women's clothing given by his wife. The last prisoner of the Queen's House was Hitler's personal secretary and his deputy in the party, Rudolf Hess, who was here for 4 days in May 1941.

Taking into account all the above, it would be strange if ghosts did not wander around the Tower and legends were not told about it. Black crows are not only one of the main legends, but also an important symbol of the fortress. It is known for certain that the first raven appeared in the castle in 1553 during the time of the “nine-day queen” Jane Grey. It was then that the famous “Vivat!” was heard for the first time, foreshadowing bad news - Gray was executed.

But crows became iconic during the time of Queen Elizabeth, on whose orders her favorite Duke of Essex was imprisoned for raising a riot. While waiting for the verdict, a huge black raven knocked on the window of the Duke’s cell with its beak and, looking intently into Essex’s eyes, shouted “Vivat!” three times. The Duke told his visiting relatives about the bad omen, who in turn spread the word throughout London - the sad outcome was obvious to everyone. A few days later, the Duke of Essex was brutally executed. This legend lived for several centuries - the raven appeared doomed to the scaffold, until the fortress lost its status as a royal prison and became a museum.

Since that time, entire dynasties of ravens have settled on the territory of the castle, and their life on the territory of the Tower has acquired many legends. So, one of them lives to this day: it is believed that the Tower and the entire British Empire will collapse as soon as the crows leave it.

Maybe that's why in XVII century King Charles II issued a decree that six black ravens must live in the castle permanently. A special raven guardian was appointed to monitor this, whose duties included the complete maintenance of the birds. This tradition still exists today.

Since then, practically nothing has changed: 7 black ravens (one is a spare) live in excellent conditions in the fortress in spacious enclosures. Every year the state allocates a substantial budget for the maintenance of ravens. Thanks to their excellent nutrition, the “Keepers of the Tower” are quite well-fed. Their daily diet includes about 200 grams of fresh meat and blood biscuits; in addition, once a week the birds are given eggs, fresh rabbit meat and fried croutons.

Each raven has its own name and character: Baldrick, Munin, Thor, Gugin, Gwillum and Branwyn. Scientists and restorers often succeed in assessing the significance of black crows in the history of the Tower, finding ancient bird nests in the most unexpected places. In one of these nests, relatively recently, finds were discovered that gave rise to new legends and hypotheses. Historians found a bracelet with the initials of Jane Grey, Elizabeth Tudor's hairpin and a glass with the coat of arms of Essex.

London is considered practically the main world capital in terms of the number of ghosts. According to the stories of residents, ghosts of kings and their entourage can be found everywhere there. The Tower was no exception, during its existence many secrets and scenes of bloodshed accumulated.

One of the frequently described ghosts is the ghost of King George II, who died of a heart attack while awaiting important documents from Germany. According to evidence, in the windows of the castle you can often see the unhappy face of George II, looking out to look at the weather vane.

Available large number evidence of an encounter with a decapitated ghost carrying her head under her arm. She was executed because she did not bear the king a son. To get rid of her and remarry, the king accused her of incest and treason. Anne Boleyn said: “The King is so good to me. First he made me a maid. Then he made the maid a marquise. He made a queen out of a marquise, and now out of a queen he makes me into a holy great martyr!” This woman died without suffering and with a calm heart.

Her head was not hung for public display, as was the custom of those times. She was placed under the right arm of the executed woman and, together with the body, was placed in a forged chest, then hastily buried in the Tower under the floor of the chapel of Saints Peter and Vencula. According to eyewitnesses, the executed wife of King Henry VIII was noticed in various parts of the castle, more often she was seen walking in the park of the fortress.

Another legend claims that for a long time the ghost of the murdered Archbishop Thomas Becket wandered through the corridors of the castle. Considered to be the oldest ghost in England, it disappeared only after the murderer's grandson Henry III built a chapel within the walls of the fortress.

The ghosts of children have been repeatedly seen in the Tower - the murdered 12-year-old King Edward V and his 9-year-old brother Richard. The “little princes,” as they are called, dressed in white robes, holding hands, silently walk along the corridors of the castle.

Another famous ghost is the navigator-explorer Walter Raleigh, who was imprisoned twice for his role in the conspiracy and was eventually publicly executed.

The most terrifying vision, according to eyewitnesses, is the scene of the execution of the Countess of Salisbury. Margaret Paul, Countess of Salisbury, was executed in 1541. This elderly lady (over 70) suffered because her son, Cardinal Paul, denounced the religious doctrines of Henry VIII and even did something in the interests of France. When the king realized that he could not get the cardinal, he ordered his mother to be executed.

The Countess escaped from the hands of the executioner and ran around the scaffold with terrible curses. The executioner chased her, striking her with an ax. Wounded, she fell and was executed. This vision often appears before eyewitnesses at the very place where the scaffold was located.

The servants of the fortress claim that the spectacle can be observed every year on the day of execution - the image of the countess and the executioner is clearly visible, wild screams are heard, but after beheading all visions disappear and dead silence sets in.

Ghosts have never been seen in the main tower of the Tower. There is a legend that during the construction of the tower in the 11th century, an animal was sacrificed to drive out evil spirits. To confirm this, during the repair work in the 19th century, the skeleton of a cat was discovered in the masonry of the wall.

One can only guess how many more secrets the Tower of London keeps, but it is clear that more than once more legends of the main royal prison will be revealed and confirmed.

Despite this, about 100 people continue to live directly in the castle, and almost 200 come to the fortress every day to work, and among them is another symbol of the Tower of London - the “free yeomen”, beefeaters, guards of the royal fortress.

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress , better known as the Tower of London (historical name - Tower), is historical monument, located in the center of London, England, on the north bank of the Thames. It is located in the London borough of Tower Hamlets and is separated from the eastern part of the City of London by the undeveloped area of ​​Tower Hill.

The Tower of London is often confused with the White Tower, a square fortress built by William the Conqueror in 1078. However, the Tower as a whole is a complex consisting of several structures located within two concentric rings formed by defensive walls and a moat.

The tower originally served as a fortress, royal residence and prison (especially for noble prisoners and members of the royal family, such as the "Princes in the Tower" (Princes Edward and Richard) and the future Queen Elizabeth I).

This latter function led to the coining of the phrase “sent to the Tower” (meaning “imprisoned”). In addition, at various times it housed an armory, a treasury, a zoo, the Royal Mint, the British State Archives, an observatory, and also carried out executions and torture. Since 1303, the Tower has housed the British Crown Jewels.

Video tour of the Tower of London - Tower of London

History of construction

White Tower

At the center of the Tower of London stands the Norman White Tower, built in 1078 by William the Conqueror (reigned 1066-87) at the south-eastern end of the city walls adjacent to the Thames. This huge tower protected the Normans from the inhabitants of the City of London, as well as London itself from external invaders. The architect of the tower, by order of William, was Gandalf (Gundulf), Bishop of Rochester. Excellent Cayenne stone brought from France was used to create the corners of the building and to frame the doors and windows, while the majority of the building was constructed from Kentish basalt. According to legend, the mortar used in the construction of the structure was diluted with animal blood. Another legend attributes the construction of the Tower not to William, but to the Romans. William Shakespeare, in his play Richard III, claims that it was built by Julius Caesar.

The height of the White Tower is 27 m, and the thickness of its walls is 4.5 m at the base and 3.3 m at the top. Four turrets rise above the battlements; three of them are square, and the one in the northeast is round with a spiral staircase. Under Charles II, it housed the royal observatory for some time. In the south of the Tower, the defensive structure is limited to the castle courtyard.

In the 1190s, King Richard the Lionheart (reigned 1189-99) added curtains to the White Tower and dug a ditch around it, which he filled with water from the Thames. Richard used the previously erected Roman city wall in the east as part of the fence. Part of the wall he built, later included in Henry III's defensive wall, still remains in the area between the Bloody Tower and the Bell Tower, also built during his reign. In 1240, Henry III ordered the building to be whitewashed, which is how it got its name.

Inmost Ward

In the early 13th century, Henry III (reigned 1216–72) established the Tower as his main royal residence and built luxurious buildings within the castle's Courtyard to the south of the White Tower. To the north-west this Courtyard was entered by the now ruined Coldharbour Gate, and was bounded by a wall, fortified on the south-west by Wakefield Tower, on the south-east by the Lantern Tower, and on the north-east - now the destroyed Wardrobe Tower. The well-appointed Wakefield Tower and Lantern Tower were integral parts of this new royal palace, and adjoined the now destroyed Great hall, located between them. The tower remained a royal residence until the time of Oliver Cromwell, under whom some of the old luxurious buildings were destroyed.

Inland area

The White Tower and Courtyard are in the Inner Grounds, protected by a massive curtain wall built by Henry III in 1238. Despite protests from London citizens and even supernatural predictions (according to chronicler Matthew Paris), it was decided to extend the city wall to the east.

Thirteen towers are built into the wall:

Wakefield Tower is the largest tower in the curtain wall.
Lanthorn Tower
Salt Tower
Broad Arrow Tower
Constable Tower
Martin Tower
Brick Tower
Bowyer Tower
Silicon Tower (Flint Tower)
Deveraux Tower
Beauchamp Tower
The Bell Tower is the oldest tower in the enclosure, built in the 1190s as part of Richard I's fortifications and later included in Henry III's fortifications. It is named after the bell located in it, which was used to ring the evening curfew for more than 500 years.
Bloody Tower (or Garden Tower), named after the legend of the princes killed there.

Outer Ward

From 1275 to 1285, Edward I (reigned 1272–1307) built an outer curtain that completely connected the inner wall, resulting in a circular double defense structure. He filled the old ditch with water and dug a new ditch around the new outer wall. The area between the walls is called the Outer Territory. The wall has five towers located on the river side:

Byward Tower
St Thomas's Tower, built in 1275-1279 by Edward I as an additional royal residence.
Cradle Tower
Well Tower
Develin Tower
On the outer side of the northern wall there are three semicircular bastions: Brass Mount, North Bastion and Legge's Mount.

The water passage to the Tower is often called Traitor's Gate, as it is believed that prisoners accused of treason, such as Queen Anne Boleyn and Sir Thomas More, were transported through it. The Traitor's Gate, cut through the Tower of St. Thomas, replaced the water one Henry III's Gate in the Bloody Tower. Behind the Traitor's Gate there was an engine in the reservoir, which was used to pump water to the cistern located on the roof of the White Tower. The engine was originally powered by stream power or horses, and then by steam power around 1724; the device was adapted to operate mechanisms carrying gun barrels. In the 1860s it was dismantled. Above the great arch of the Traitors' Gate is a Tudor timber frame, created in 1532 and reconstructed in the 19th century.

West Entrance and Moat

Nowadays, the dry ditch surrounding the entire structure intersects from south to west stone bridge, leading to Byward Tower from the Middle Tower - a gate that formerly served as an outer fortification, which was called the Lion Tower.

Today the Tower is primarily a tourist attraction. In addition to the buildings themselves, its exhibition includes the British Crown Jewels, a fine collection of weapons from the Royal Armories and the remains of a Roman fortress wall.

The Tower's yeomanry gatekeepers (beefeaters) act as guides and provide security, while being an attraction themselves. Every evening, when the Tower closes for the night, the gatekeepers take part in the Key Ceremony.

Without a doubt, everyone has ever heard of the Tower of London, because it is one of the oldest fortresses in England, which over its centuries-old history has been a royal residence, a prison, a zoo, a museum, and even a royal observatory!

The Tower is the most recognizable symbol of London and a must-visit for every traveler. This is not just an ancient castle, it is a real treasure trove of the history of London and the entire British Empire.

It is located on the north bank of the Thames and receives many tourists every year. It is interesting that the Tower is still considered a royal residence. The beefeaters live here with their families and the fortress's staff.

Historical information: beefeater (guardian of the Tower) translated into Russian means “meat eater”. They began to be called that back in the distant 15th century, when during the hungry years the guards were heavily fed meat three times a day, and the rest of the people died of hunger. Beefeater is very honorary title, and not everyone is accepted into the Tower Guards. At all times, beefeaters were buried in the cellars of the Tower Chapel, a tradition that continues to this day.

History of the Tower of London

The Tower was founded more than 900 years ago by William I, but long before that there was a Roman fort here. New fortress was supposed to frighten the people, and therefore, in place of the wooden buildings, a stone building grew up - the Great Tower ().

White Tower Tower

Monarchs lived here behind thick walls of gray stone. But London grew rapidly, and soon the formidable Tower began to coexist with poor areas. The royal family did not like such a neighborhood, and they moved to Palace of Westminster. The Tower became a guard fortress and a prison.

Tower - prison

The Tower saw many executions and deaths; the bloody history of London was made here. It is known that the first prisoner was imprisoned in 1190, and since then countless prisoners have passed through the Tower casemates until 1941, when a German spy was shot here.

The most influential people in Europe served their sentences and awaited execution in the fortress. The list is quite impressive: there were French kings, Scottish rulers, dukes, and aristocrats... among the most famous prisoners of the Tower are King James of Scotland, the Duke of Orlesia, Anne Boleyn, etc.

Traitors Gate

Guy Fawkes, a famous participant in the Gunpowder Plot, Walter Raleigh, a British navigator and poet, William Penn and many others were executed in the Tower. The reign of Henry VIII can rightfully be considered the darkest period. He was particularly cruel and bloodthirsty and easily sentenced to death all people he disliked, from politicians and priests to his own wives.

Anne Boleyn, his second wife, Catherine Howard, his fifth wife, and Jane Grey, the infamous queen for 9 days, were killed here. They all paid with their lives for not being able to give the bloody monarch a son.

Some executions took place behind closed doors, but most were public and took place on Tower Hill. Here a crowd of onlookers could see how the condemned man's head was cut off, impaled on a stake and put on public display.

The headless bodies were taken to the Tower, where they were buried in the dungeons of the fortress. During the excavations, more than 1,500 skeletons without skulls were found, and this is certainly not the end.

The Tower remained a prison until the mid-20th century - the last prisoners were imprisoned there in 1952. These were the Kray gangster brothers.

Peaceful functions of the Tower

Royal Menagerie

At the beginning of the 13th century, a royal menagerie was opened in the Tower. John the Landless kept his lions in the fortress, and his successor Henry III replenished it with leopards, a polar bear and even an elephant. Later it was replenished with other exotic animals, and under Elizabeth I it was even opened to visitors.

The menagerie existed on the territory of the Tower until 1830, after which the animals were transported to the London Zoo, and sculptures of animals were erected in the fortress, immortalizing this part of the history of the Tower.

Tower Treasury

The Tower of London played another important function for the Crown. The main mint of the empire was located here for more than 500 years. Precious coins were minted here, and documents of national importance were also kept. military equipment monarchs and weapons of the royal army.

The Royal Treasury on the grounds of the Tower still exists and has been open to visitors since the 17th century. This is where the royal jewels are kept, including the world's largest diamond, the Cullian I. This is a truly mesmerizing place that is definitely worth a visit.

You need to walk along the walls and towers of the fortress, turned into a fascinating museum, look at stone animals and ancient fortifications, go into the most ancient church London - St. Peter's Chapel, built in 1080.

And the White Tower today - interactive museum, which is sure to please children, and, of course, you cannot miss Tower Meadow - the permanent execution site for Tower prisoners. Now there is a memorial there - a crystal pillow on which the names of all the people executed here are engraved.

The Tower has an armory and a military museum.

Tower of London opening hours

There are many legends associated with the Tower, as it is the oldest fortress in London. It's full of secrets, treasures and ghosts. Every Tower guard has encountered the castle's ghosts at least once in his life, and many of them are very aggressive.

Ravens of the Tower

These legends, as well as the Tower ravens, are a separate discussion.