Tower of London

About Tower of London

Castle in central London, United Kingdom

The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, is a historic castle on the north bank of the Thames in the heart of London, one of the world's most famous fortresses and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was founded in late 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest, and in 1078 William the Conqueror built the White Tower that gives the castle its name, a symbol of the new regime's power over the city. Expansion under Richard I, Henry III and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries produced the present complex of buildings within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat, whose outline has barely changed since the late 1200s. The Tower has played many roles in English history: royal palace, armoury, treasury, Royal Mint, public record office and royal menagerie, and from the early 14th century until Charles II the coronation procession set out from here to Westminster Abbey. It is best remembered as a prison for the great in the 16th and 17th centuries, where Elizabeth I was held before she became queen and where the Princes in the Tower vanished in the late 15th century; 'sent to the Tower' became a byword for a dark fate. Visitors today see the Crown Jewels kept here, the White Tower with the Royal Armouries' arms and armour, the walls and towers you can walk along, and the Yeoman Warders ('Beefeaters') in traditional dress who give free guided tours, as well as the famous ravens. Every night for more than 700 years the Ceremony of the Keys has locked up the fortress at 22:00.

Where:

London, United Kingdom