The Monument is one of those second tier tourist attractions in London. I’ve never actually been there, but I definitely will make a visit to it on my next trip. It’s recently been renovated and reopened, all of a sudden turning it into an interesting tourist attraction.
The Monument, located the City of London, was build to commemorate the Great Fire of London in the late 1600′s. It’s served as a solemn reminder of that great tragedy that changed the face of London forever. One thing that many people aren’t aware of is that you actually climb to the top of the monument and there is a spectacular viewing platform that provides amazing views of the city.
According to the Wikipedia article:
The Monument to the Great Fire of London, more commonly known as The Monument, is a 202 ft (61.57 metre) tall stone Roman doric column in the City of London, near to the northern end of London Bridge. It is located at the junction of Monument Street and Fish Street Hill, 202 ft (61.57 metres) from where the Great Fire of London started in 1666. Another monument, the Golden Boy of Pye Corner marks the point near Smithfield where the fire stopped. Monument tube station is named after The Monument.
The Monument consists of a large fluted Doric column built of Portland stone topped with a gilded urn of fire, and was designed by Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke. The west side of the base of the Monument displays an emblematical sculpture, by Caius Gabriel Cibber, in alto and bas relief, of the destruction of the City; with King Charles II, and his brother, James, the Duke of York (later James II) surrounded by Liberty, Architecture, and Science, giving directions for its restoration. Its 202 foot (61.57 metre) height marks the monument’s distance to the site of Thomas Farynor, the king’s baker’s shop in Pudding Lane, where the fire began. At the time of construction (between 1671 and 1677) it was the tallest freestanding stone column in the world.
The Monument was getting pretty shabby, so it was closed down in 2007 for a £4.5 million refurbishment and it happened to re-open today. Everything has been cleaned, access improved and everything restored to it’s former glory with typical British exactitude.
They’ve also developed a new website that features live webcam views from the top of the tower. Check out the new website here.
If you’re in London and want to see the Monument, it’s open daily and costs £3 for adults to go to the top.
Author Info - Jonathan is a consummate Anglophile with an obsession for Britain that borders on psychosis. He keeps Anglotopia running in his spare time, always dreaming of his next trip to England, wishing he lived there - specifically Dorset - and is always trying to figure out a way to move to England. It will happen one day. Keep up with him on Twitter here. Read more from this author
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Anglotopia was founded by Jonathan and Jackie Thomas for people who love Britain - whether it's British TV, Culture, History or Travel - we cover it all. Anglotopia was started to get us back to the UK for a trip and it did that in 2009. Now, the goal is for Anglotopia to make our dream of living in the UK a reality.
The spiral staircase looks pretty impressive! Good they re opened!