The Palace of Westminster, UK Parliament of London !!!

Posted in Europe, France

On our trips in Europe lucky we have been able to visit several countries and of course England would have been on the list and it was. I have visited many times on business trips but had one visit with the family. One of the nice things to see there is the Palace of Westminster or British Parliament, and like to give you a glimpse. I like to update this older post with new text and older new pictures to my blog, Therefore, here is my take on the Palace of Westminster, UK Parliament of London !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

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The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament, is the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The palace borders the north bank of the Thames river and lies to the west of the city, in the London Borough of the City of Westminster. The oldest section of the palace, Westminster Hall, dates back to 1097. The Palace of Westminster was originally used as a royal residence, but no English or British monarch has lived there since the 16C, following a major fire in 1512. However, most of the palace dates from the 19C, as the palace was almost completely destroyed by a new, even more devastating fire, which occurred in 1834.

The Palace of Westminster is a huge complex of more than a thousand rooms, contains in addition to the rooms of the House of Lords and the House of Commons, the offices of parliamentary committees, libraries, halls, dining rooms, bars or even gyms. It is the site of important official ceremonies, and especially that each year of the opening of the parliamentary session (the State Opening of Parliament). The Palace of Westminster is closely associated in spirit with the two Houses of Parliament, as is sometimes evidenced by the use of the term Westminster to refer to Parliament.

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The current Palace of Westminster has several towers. The tallest and most square, the Victoria Tower, is located at the southwest corner of the building and stands 98.5 meters. It was named after the reigning monarch of the time, Queen Victoria. The tower houses the Registry of the House of Lords’ Record Office, which despite its name is used by the two parliamentary chambers. Its top bears a flag, whether it is the Royal Standard when the sovereign is present or more generally the Union Jack. It is indeed at the foot of the Victoria Tower that the Sovereign’s Entrance to the Palace is located, used notably during the opening ceremonies of Parliament or any other event. involving the arrival of the Head of State.

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The Central Tower dominates the middle of the palace. Its height of 91.4 meters makes it the smallest of the three main towers of the monument. Unlike its neighbors, the Central Tower is surmounted by an arrow located immediately above the central vestibule, in an octagonal shape.

The northwest corner supports the most famous tower of the Palace of Westminster, the Clock Tower (Elisabeth Tower), 96.3 meters high. The tower houses the Great Clock of Westminster, which has a dial on each of the four sides. The Clock Tower also contains the five bells of the palace, which ring quarter-hourly. The largest and most famous of these bells, officially called the great bell of Westminster, is much better known by its nickname of Big Ben (see post). It is the third heaviest bell in the whole of the United Kingdom, weighing around 13.8 tons. Big Ben on top of the Elizabeth Tower name so on the occasion of Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee in 2012;  is a symbol of the city of London. Only people who live in the UK can visit the clock tower after obtaining permission (so was told never tried to go up). Initially, the name of this bell was The Great Bell. The origin of the name Big Ben is uncertain.

The official Palace of Westminster, House of Parliament on the palace : https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/

The London tourist office on Westminster : https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/place/401836-houses-of-parliament

There you go folks, can’t missed while visiting London ! Its a wonderful architecture and history to boot, Again, hope you enjoy this post on the Palace of Westminster of London as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

2 thoughts on “The Palace of Westminster, UK Parliament of London !!!”

  1. I remember visiting Parliament on a school trip. I noted that you shouldn’t cross the two lines marked on the floor, it meant that you were changing sides, for or against the government.

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