The official name is the tower of london. Tower of London: interesting facts for the traveler

Tower of London(the Tower of London) - a fortress, today's historical center of London, located near London's Tower Bridge, was built at the beginning of the eleventh century by William the Conqueror.

Initially it was a wooden structure, but already in the thirteenth century the Tower was rebuilt into a stone fortified castle, a complex used as a defensive citadel. At various times, the premises and territory of the castle-fortress served as a royal residence, as a prison, as a mint, and even as a zoo. The Tower, which has a strategic location on the Thames, today looks like a serious military stronghold of twenty towers, interconnected by walls of considerable thickness.

In the Tower of London, in the most troubled times, the royal dynasties of Britain hid, if in Palace of Westminster it was dangerous to stay. Here they kept in prison (and some even executed) political opponents objectionable to the crown. The most famous tower of the Tower of London is the White Tower.

Tower of London, White Tower

This is the oldest part of the castle, which was built in 1097. For a long time it was also considered the tallest building in London (its height is 27.4 m (90 feet)). The walls of the White Tower are 4.6 m thick. During the reign of Henry III, the facades of the tower were whitewashed, and the name stuck. The round turret of the White Tower served as an observatory for a long time. The tower also has a beautiful 11th century Chapel of St John the Evangelist. There are also two active historical exhibitions in the White Tower, a visit to which is included in the price of tickets for the Tower of London: these are the collections of the Royal Armory and the 300-year-old exhibition Line of Kings (Line of Kings).

Other Towers of the Tower of London

In the thirteenth century, during the reign of Henry III, when the territory of the fortress was significantly expanded, two more defensive walls were built around. The inner wall has thirteen towers, the outer wall has six more. Basically, these towers were used as prisons for those who posed a danger to the royal monarchy.

Widely known among them is the Bloody Tower, where many persons of the royal blood of England lost their heads. Among them, the most famous prisoners are two princes, the sons of King Edward IV, imprisoned by the brother of their father, who later ascended the throne under the name of King Richard III.

St. Thomas Tower, which is located near the Bloody Tower, is famous for the fact that prisoners were brought here by boat, through the so-called Traitor's Gate.

The most important prisoners were often kept in the Beauchamp tower, sometimes even with their personal servants. An inscription preserved on the wall of this tower testifies that Lady Jane Grey, who became Queen of England for only nine days, was imprisoned here, then executed on the territory of Tower Green.

The popularity of the Tower Green is explained by the fact that it has become a kind of memorial for those executed or killed by order of the state. The execution of a death sentence within the walls of this tower or on the territory next to it meant a privilege: the execution procedure did not take place under the mockery of an idle crowd, but was performed in silence and solitude. Three queens were the most famous among those executed on or near the territory of the Tower Green memorial: Anne Boleyn (aged about 30), the second wife of Henry VIII, who was killed on the orders of her husband due to the lack of children; Katherine Howard (aged 20), fifth wife of Henry VIII and Lady Jane Gray (aged 16).

Thomas More was imprisoned in the Bell Tower for refusing to recognize King Henry VIII as head of the Church of England. Here he was until the moment of his execution by order of Henry VIII. For some time, even Queen Elizabeth I was imprisoned in the same tower.

Yeoman Warders of the Tower

To get to the Tower of London through the main entrance, you will have to find the Byward Tower, where all guests are met by beefeaters or yeoman guards (jailers). Nowadays, they not only guard the tower, but also conduct excursions around the territory of the fortress. There are about 40 Beefeaters in total. They wear historical clothes: on holidays - red, on ordinary days - blue. By the way, recently the first woman in history was hired for this position.

The residence of kings, the most terrible prison in England, a fortress built to defend the city, a mint, a royal arsenal and even a royal menagerie - all this is the Tower of London. The castle, which played an exceptional role in the history of the English capital.

Initially, the Tower was built as a defensive fortress to intimidate the conquered Anglo-Saxon population of the island under William the First. In the future, the Tower was rebuilt more than once, received new towers and extensions, and in 1190 the first prisoner "settled" in it.

The fortress served as a prison primarily for representatives of the aristocracy, that is, enough noble prisoners. There have been times in history when members of the royal family themselves were kept in the Tower. The Tower gained its reputation as a dark place of execution and torture during the reign of Henry the Eighth. It was in this prison that his two wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, spent the last days before execution.

The Tower of London has retained its historical appearance to this day. Of course, now the fortress is not used as a prison, but has become a repository of royal treasures, a museum and an armory. There are also several residential apartments in the complex of buildings of the Tower, which housed the families of the staff serving the museum and the treasury, and also high-ranking guests can stay. Officially, the Tower is still considered the residence of the family of Elizabeth II, but has not been used by the royals for a long time.

The most unusual inhabitants of the castle now are ravens, bearing the title of "official residents" and standing on the official royal allowance.

Every year, the Tower of London is visited by millions of tourists who are attracted by the history of this place, the treasures stored here and the museum's old exhibits.

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Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress (Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress) , better known as the Tower of London (historical name - Tower), is a historical monument located in the center of London, in England, on the north bank of the Thames. It is located in the London area 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 protective walls and a moat.

Initially, the tower 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 last function of hers led to the phrase "sent to the Tower" (meaning "imprisoned"). In addition, at different times it housed an armory, a treasury, a zoo, the Royal Mint, the British State Archives, an observatory, as well as executions and torture. Since 1303, the Tower of London has housed the British Crown Jewels.

Video tour of the Tower of London - Tower of London

Construction history

white tower

In the center of the Tower of London stands the Norman White Tower, built in 1078 by William the Conqueror (reigned 1066-87) in the southeastern part 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 outside invaders. The architect of the tower, on the orders of Wilhelm, was Gandalf, Bishop of Rochester. Excellent Cayenne stone, brought from France, was used to form the corners of the building and decorate the doors and windows, while most of the building was built from Kentish basalt. According to legend, the mortar used in the construction of the structure was diluted with the blood of animals. 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 courtyard of the castle.

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

Courtyard (Inmost Ward)

In the early 13th century, Henry III (reigned 1216-72) placed the main royal residence in the Tower and built luxurious buildings within the Castle Courtyard south of the White Tower. The now ruined Coldharbour Gate led to this Courtyard on the northwest and was bounded by a wall fortified on the southwest by the Wakefield Tower, on the southeast by the Lanthorn Tower, and on the northeast - now destroyed by the Wardrobe Tower. The well-appointed Wakefield Tower and Lantern Tower were integral parts of this new royal palace, adjoining the now ruined Great Hall between them. The tower remained a royal residence until the time of Oliver Cromwell, when some of the old luxurious buildings were destroyed.

Inland territory

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

Thirteen towers are built into the wall:

Wakefield Tower is the largest tower in the curtain wall.
Lantern 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 the fortifications of Richard I and later incorporated into those of Henry III. It is named after the bell located in it, in which the evening curfew was beaten for more than 500 years.
Bloody Tower (or Garden Tower), named after the legend of the princes killed in it.

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 defensive structure. He filled the old ditch with water and dug a new ditch around the new outer wall. The place between the walls is called the Outer Territory. There are five towers in the wall, located on the side of the river:

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 outside of the northern wall are three semicircular bastions: Copper Mountain (Brass Mount), North Bastion (North Bastion) and Mount Legg (Legge's Mount).

The water passage to the Tower is often called the Traitor's Gate, since it is believed that prisoners accused of treason, such as Queen Anne Boleyn and Sir Thomas More, were transported through them. Henry III's Gate at the Tower of Blood Behind the Traitor's Gate in the pool was an engine that was used to pump water into a cistern located on the roof of the White Tower. The device was adapted to run gun-carrying mechanisms and was dismantled in the 1860s.Above the great arch of the Traitors' Gate is a Tudor Timber Frame, built in 1532 and reconstructed in the 19th century.

West entrance and moat

The now-dry moat that surrounds the entire structure is crossed from south to west by a stone bridge leading to Byward Tower from the Middle Tower, the gate that previously served as the outer fortification, which was called the Lion Tower.

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

Yeomanry gatekeepers (beefeaters) of the Tower act as guides and provide security, while they themselves are a tourist attraction. Every evening when the Tower closes for the night, the gatekeepers participate in the Key Handover Ceremony.

Tower (Great Britain) - description, history, location. The exact address, phone, website. Reviews of tourists, photos and videos.

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The Tower of London has become a symbol not only of London, but of the whole of Great Britain. It occupies a special place in British history, so now the Tower is one of the most visited architectural and historical sights in the world.

In essence, the Tower is a fortress. It stands on the north bank of the Thames, is one of the oldest buildings in England and historical center London. The history of this fortress is motley: initially it was built as a defensive castle, and then it served as a zoo, a mint, an arsenal, a prison, an observatory, and a repository of royal jewels.

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. Only 7 executions took place in this prison for high-ranking people and royal persons, among the victims of Henry VIII's wife Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, as well as the "Queen of the Nine Days" Jane Gray. 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

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

Events at the Tower

In addition to the traditional inspection of exhibits and interiors, you can also have fun in the Tower: for example, from December 27 to December 31, they celebrate New Year in medieval costumes. Tourists are met 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 fitness at the beginning of the day, and in the evening, when you want romance: the fortress is illuminated by lights that are reflected in the ice. The skating rink is open from November 17 to January 2, ticket prices are from 10.5 to 14.5 EUR. Prices on the page are for 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 of charge,
• 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 underground station: Tower Hill (Entrance to the Tower of London 5 minutes walk). Nearest station: Fenchurch Street or London Bridge. Buses No. 15, 42, 78, 100, RV1. In addition, there are river buses and high-speed catamarans from Charing Cross, Westminster and Greenwich to the Tower Pier every 20 minutes.

Foundation of the Tower of London

After the successful Battle of Hastings in 1066, William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, set about asserting his power. To do this, throughout the country, he founded 36 castles, which became administrative centers royal influence and strongholds in the event of hostilities. Since London was already the largest city in England, it was decided to establish a castle here as well. The southeast corner of the old Roman city walls on the banks of the Thames was chosen as the location (separate fragments of the Roman walls and the statue of Emperor Hadrian can still be seen on the territory of the complex).

The history of the Tower of London begins with the construction white tower(No. 34 on) - a huge building that combines the functions of a royal residence and a Norman donjon. The exact date of commencement of construction is not known, but it is traditionally believed that it was founded in 1077 under the direction of Gandalf, Bishop of Rochester. Subsequently, the White Tower gave the castle the name Tower.

The Norman donjons had especially powerful walls, since initially the Normans did not enclose their castles with other defensive structures. The imposing belts of fortifications with bastions that we see today in the Tower began to be built around the White Tower only in the 13th century, apparently after the Crusades made the English 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 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 of Hedingham Castle and is one of the largest keep in the medieval architecture of Western Europe. In terms of its configuration and layout of the premises, the White Tower belongs to a very rare group of donjons, characteristic of England, and, moreover, only of the 11th-12th centuries.

In 1097, King William II the Red ordered the construction of stone walls around the White Tower, the construction of which was completed at the beginning of the 12th century (the reign of Henry I). The White Tower became the heart of the Tower, its core and the most impregnable part; living quarters for the king, his family and associates were located here. The structure is considered to be one of the largest donjons in Europe (36 × 32 × 27 meters), and also one of the oldest surviving in England.

The White Tower immediately began to perform, in addition to defensive, also a prison function. Its first prisoner was Bishop Ranulf Flambard, and he also became the first fugitive - the clergyman managed to escape with the help of a rope given to him by accomplices in a bottle of wine. The escape turned out to be so unexpected and daring that one of the chroniclers of that time accused the fugitive bishop of having links with evil spirits.

According to the Norman tradition, the entrance to the White Tower is located much higher than the ground level, so a wooden ladder was used, which could be easily removed in case of danger. As in most other donjons, at the base of the White Tower there is a large basement and a functioning well. In the southeastern part of the building is located. Since its apse was attached to the walls already existing at that time, it can be concluded that the chapel was not included in the original construction plan. It is believed that the Romanesque chapel was built from stone brought from France.

The first floor of the White Tower was apparently intended for the needs of the constable (the royal manager of the Tower in London) and the lieutenant (deputy constable). On the second floor there was a large hall and living quarters for the king and his family. Unfortunately, very little has survived from the original interiors. Perhaps only the modest decoration of the Chapel of St. John corresponds to the original setting.

The death of King Henry I in 1135 plunged England into a dynastic conflict in which the Tower played a very important role. His constable Geoffrey de Mandeville, relying on the impregnable walls of a strategically important castle, skillfully maneuvered between two contenders for the throne (Princess Matilda and Stephen of Blois), thereby temporarily increasing personal power and wealth. However, soon he had to pay dearly for political unprincipledness - Stephen of Blois, becoming king, arrested him and deprived him of all castles and possessions. Since then, the post of constable of the Tower, which was originally hereditary, the king personally appointed a faithful person. At first, constables, in addition to managing the castle, also had a certain civil authority in the city - they ensured public order and tax collection, but after the introduction of the position of Lord Mayor of London in 1191, they ceased to perform these functions.

In the second half of the 12th century (the reign of Henry II), defensively non-functional royal apartments and a castle square were built in the Tower from the south side of the White Tower to the Thames. The territory that included the Tower of that time is called Central courtyard.

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Expansion of the Tower under King Richard I the Lionheart

The Tower appears to have survived unchanged until King Richard I the Lionheart (r. 1189 to 1199). Almost all of his reign, Richard I spent in constant wars outside of England, and the real power in the kingdom was exercised by his Lord Chancellor William Longchamp. On the initiative of the latter, given the threat of war with Richard's brother John, the territory of the castle was doubled and surrounded by a moat. The new defensive fortifications of the Tower of London were tested in 1191, when the castle was besieged for the first time in its history. The siege, however, lasted only 3 days, since Longchamp decided that it was more profitable for him to surrender than to continue resistance.

John did manage to become king of England after Richard's death in 1199, but he was extremely unpopular with the barons and the people, which led to war. In 1214, when John was at Windsor Castle, one of the rebellious barons laid siege to the Tower. The garrison defended courageously, and the siege was lifted only after the signing between the king and the barons of the Magna Carta (Magna Carta) - a document that defined the rights and obligations of the monarch and his subjects, the barons. John, however, was in no hurry to fulfill these promises, which led to the First Barons' War, during which the Tower garrison went over to the side of the rebels.

Expansion of the Tower under King Henry III

Henry III (reigned: 1216-1272) spent quite a lot of time in the Tower of London, and several times he gathered parliament within its walls (in 1236 and 1261). Under him, almost all the fortifications were built on the territory, which was added to the castle by his two predecessors (Richard I the Lionheart and John the Landless). Henry III built stone walls and nine towers (seven of them have survived unchanged to this day). This area is now called Courtyard.

All towers of the Tower, except for defensive functions, served as the location of residential and administrative premises, as evidenced in some cases by their names: a watch bell hung in the Bell Tower (No. 2 on), in the tower of the Archery Master (No. 4) there were workshops where bows, crossbows and siege weapons, and in Lanthorn Tower (No. 20) - a large lighthouse (from the Old English lanthorn - "lamp, lantern"), showing the way to ships passing along the Thames.

The main entrance to the castle under Henry III was located in the western wall. It is believed that the towers on the south side - Wakefield (No. 36) and Lanthorn (No. 20) - served as the private quarters of the king and queen, respectively. Between the towers was built a large hall for solemn occasions.

Next to the Wakefield Tower (No. 36) the Bloody Tower (No. 3) was built in order to provide access to the castle from the river. It acquired its name after it became the site of the murder of 12-year-old Edward V and his 10-year-old brother Richard of York in 1483, popularly called the Princes of the Tower, on the orders of their uncle, King Richard III. At the time of their death, the boys had already been declared illegitimate by Parliament, which deprived them of legal grounds for the English throne, but this did not seem enough for the usurper.

In 1258, the barons, led by Simon de Montfort, again rebelled against the royal power, demanding regular convocations of parliament and the withdrawal of royal troops from the Tower. Henry III first took such an oath, but after asking permission from the Pope, he broke it and regained his control over the castle in 1261 with the help of mercenaries. In 1265, after the victory at Evesham, Henry III restored power in the country and called Cardinal Ottobuon to England to excommunicate the rebellious barons. This caused a new outburst of discontent, and in 1267 the baronial army, led by Gilbert de Claire, laid siege to the Tower, where the residence of the cardinal was temporarily located. Despite a large army and siege weapons, the rebels failed to take the castle. The remainder of the reign of King Henry III passed peacefully for the Tower of London.

Expansion of the Tower under King Edward I

Edward I (r. 1272-1307), although he rarely visited London, nevertheless continued the costly work to expand the Tower. The king was a great expert on fortification, and the experience he gained during numerous military campaigns was used to strengthen the castle of London. A second line of walls was built, including two bastions (in the northwestern and northeastern corners) and a new deep ditch 50 meters wide was dug.

A new main entrance was also created (in the southwestern part of the castle), which included internal (No. 8 on) and external gates (No. 25), as well as a barbican (a fortification designed to additionally protect the main entrance), called the Lion Tower ( No. 23), since lions were kept here. The barbican has not survived to this day.

Edward I also expanded the Tower of London southward towards the Thames. On the bank of the river, a tower of St. Thomas (No. 32) was erected with the Gate of Traitors (No. 35), so named because through them new prisoners were delivered by boat. Edward also moved the mint to the Tower.

In the middle of the XIV century, the Lullaby Tower (No. 13), built as living quarters, became the second water gate.

Under Edward I, loopholes for archers appeared in the walls of the Tower. On the site of the old castle gates, Beauchamp Tower (No. 1) was erected, which is the first time in England, since the time of the Roman Empire, the use of brick as the main building material. In order to make the castle a self-sufficient complex, two watermills were built.

In 1278, the Tower became the place of detention for 600 London Jews accused of defacing coins (in the Middle Ages, when there were no exact scales, this practice was very common - small pieces were chipped or sawed off from coins). The persecution of the Jewish population of England began as early as 1276, and their culmination was 1290, when the Edict was issued expelling all Jews from England.

The area built up during the reign of King Edward I (r. 1272–1307) is now called outer courtyard. By the beginning of the XIV century, the Tower acquired a modern look.

Late Middle Ages

Under Edward II (r. 1307–1321) little happens within the walls of the Tower. The Privy Office was founded, which is located on the territory of the castle. For the first time, a woman became a prisoner of the Tower - Baroness Margaret de Clare. She refused to let Queen Isabella into her castle, moreover, she ordered archers to shoot, which led to the death of six people in the royal escort.

Note that the Tower as a prison was intended primarily for important prisoners and was the main prison in the country, but far from the most reliable. Escapes were not uncommon. For example, in 1322, Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, was able to get out of captivity by bribing the guards. After fleeing to France, he began an affair with the wife of the king, and together they made a plan to seize power. Having landed with an army in England and captured London, Mortimer first of all freed all the prisoners of the Tower. For three years (1327-1330) he ruled England while King Edward III was still too young. However, fortune soon turned away from the usurper - Mortimer was captured, imprisoned again in the Tower, and then hanged in Tyburn Square.

During the years of the Hundred Years War between England and France (1337-1453), the Tower of London became the place of imprisonment of many noble prisoners, for example, King John II of France, captured at the Battle of Poitiers, King David II of Scotland, captured at the Battle of Neville Cross, and captured by English pirates James I, a Scottish prince who became king of his country after his release in 1424. However, since Edward II launched the castle, during the time of his heirs, the Tower became not particularly comfortable for noble prisoners: for example, it was impossible to hunt here, which was allowed for prisoners of blue blood in other royal castles.

In 1377, on the day of the coronation, Richard II sets off a magnificent procession from the Tower to Westminster Abbey. This is how a tradition was born that survived until 1660.

During Wat Tyler's peasant uprising in 1381, a rebel army besieged the king at the castle. When the monarch went to negotiate with the leader of the rebels, the crowd broke into the Tower without meeting resistance. The rebels plundered the royal treasury and beheaded the Archbishop of Canterbury, Simon Sudbury, who was trying to hide in St. John's Chapel in the White Tower. After 6 years, during the next unrest, the king was again forced to hide from the rebels in the Tower.

In 1399, King Richard II was removed from power and imprisoned in the White Tower of the Tower by Heinrich Bollingbroke, a representative of a side branch of the ruling Plantangenet dynasty. Bollingbroke, who ruled under the name Henry IV, found protection behind the walls of the Tower of London more than once during uprisings and riots.

Much of the second half of the 15th century was spent in dynastic conflicts between the two branches of the Plantangenet dynasty, the Yorks and the Lancasters. Their armed civil strife was called the Wars of the Scarlet and White Roses (1455-1485), since these flowers were depicted on the coats of arms of the warring families. In 1460 the Tower was besieged by the Yorkists. The castle was badly damaged by artillery fire, but only surrendered after the capture of King Henry VI of Lancaster at the Battle of Northampton. He, however, managed to briefly regain the throne in 1470, but soon Edward IV of York took the crown from him and imprisoned him in the Tower of London, where, apparently, Henry was killed. During the war, the castle was modernized to withstand firearms, and loopholes for cannons and arquebuses were made in the walls.

Executions were usually carried out not in the castle itself, but nearby - on Tower Hill (over 400 years, 112 people were put to death at this place). In the castle itself, until the 20th century, only 7 people were executed - usually these were individuals whose public execution could cause unrest among Londoners. Today, a special memorial has been erected on the site where the scaffold was located. In particular, among the persons executed in the Tower were:

• Ann Bolein(1507-1536) - the second wife of Henry VIII, mother of Elizabeth I. Accused of state and adultery;
• Katherine Howard(1520-1542) - fifth wife of Henry VIII and cousin of Anne Boleyn. Accused of adultery;
• Jane Gray(1537-1554) - great granddaughter of King Henry VII, uncrowned queen, who ruled for 9 days in 1553. After the deposition, she was imprisoned in the castle and executed along with her husband Guildford Dudley.

Among the well-known figures of the XIV-XVIII centuries, who were prisoners of the Tower, but were executed in other places or released, the following personalities should be mentioned:

• William Wallace(1270–1305) - Scottish aristocrat and military leader, leader of the movement for Scottish independence, was held in the Tower before a painful execution in 1305. About William Wallace, the famous film "Braveheart" was shot;
• Thomas More(1478-1535) - lawyer, philosopher, writer, author of the novel Utopia. Refused to accept the supremacy of King Henry VIII over the church. Executed in 1535, buried in the Chapel of St. Peter in Chains of the White Tower. Recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church;
• Elizabeth Tudor(1533–1603), future Queen Elizabeth I, spent two months in the Tower prison on charges of organizing a rebellion against Queen Mary I;
• Walter Raleigh(1554-1618) - statesman, adventurer, poet and favorite of Elizabeth I. He spent 13 years in prison, but he was allowed to live in the castle with his family and engage in writing. Raleigh is considered the pioneer of tobacco smoking in Europe; he even tried to grow tobacco on the lawn of the Tower;
• John Gerard(1564-1637) - Jesuit priest who secretly preached Catholicism in England. He was thrown into prison, where he was tortured. In 1597, he managed to escape from the castle on a rope stretched over the castle moat. Left memoirs describing the use of torture;
• Guy Fawkes(1570-1606) - one of the leaders of the Gunpowder Plot, organized by a group of nobles with the aim of overthrowing royal power;
• William Penn(1644-1718) - religious dissident, founder of the Pennsylvania colony and the city of Philadelphia in North America. Spent seven months in the Tower writing pamphlets;
• Simon Fraser(1667-1747) - leader of the uprising of the Scots against the Hanoverian dynasty. His death was the last public execution in Britain and the last execution by beheading.

During the political conflicts between King Charles I and Parliament in the second quarter of the 17th century, the Tower again acquired strategic importance. The king tried to subjugate the garrison of the fortress, but after an unsuccessful attempt to arrest several MPs fled from London, and the Tower garrison became a stronghold of parliamentary forces during the civil war (1642–1651).

The last king to lead a ceremonial procession from the Tower to Westminster Abbey before his coronation was Charles II in 1660. By that time, the old palace premises of the castle had fallen into such disrepair that Charles could not even spend the night in it on the eve of the ceremony.

The Hanoverian dynasty, which came to power in 1714, in view of the possible uprising of the recently annexed Scots, tried to strengthen the castle, but their efforts were sporadic and ineffective. According to one of his contemporaries, "the castle would not have lasted 24 hours against any besieging army." In 1774, new gates were added to connect the wharf to the outer courtyard. The moat surrounding the castle flooded and became shallow, so in 1830 the Duke of Wellington, who, among others, also held the position of constable of the Tower, ordered work to be done to clean the moat. However, this did not solve the problems with sanitation, and in 1841 an epidemic broke out among the garrison (obviously, cholera). In order to prevent this from happening in the future, it was decided to drain the moat and fill it with earth, which was done in 1845. At the same time, the construction of the Waterloo barracks began, which could accommodate up to 1000 soldiers, and several separate rooms for officers. Today they house the headquarters of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

The Democratic Chartist Movement (1828–1858) was the cause of the last major program to strengthen the defenses of the castle. Most of the surviving structures for conducting artillery and rifle fire date from this period.

During the First World War, 11 people were shot in the Tower, convicted as German spies. And during World War II, the castle again became a prison. One of the prisoners was a high-ranking member of the Nazi Party, Rudolf Hess, who flew to England in 1941 on his own initiative. He became the last state criminal held in the Tower. In the same year, 1941, the last death penalty was carried out in the castle - the German spy Josef Jacobs was shot. Also during the war years, the Tower performed defensive functions for the last time: in the event of a German landing in England, the castle was to become one of the long-term defense points of London.

Recovery and tourism

Today the Tower of London is one of the most popular historical sights in England. Interest in the castle, as a tourist attraction, appeared as early as the time of Elizabeth I (1533-1603) thanks to a unique menagerie and an exhibition of weapons and armor. From 1669, royal regalia began to be displayed in the Tower. Already in the 19th century, there were so many visitors that the entrance became paid and orderly.

In many ways, the reason for the awakening of public interest in the Tower was literary works, in particular, the historical novel The Tower of London by William Ainsworth, in which the author created a gloomy atmosphere of torture and torment that captivated readers. He also proposed to make the Beauchamp Tower (No. 1 on) open to visitors so that everyone could familiarize themselves with the inscriptions carved on the walls made by the prisoners.

By the end of the 19th century, more than 500,000 people visited the Tower every year. And this despite the fact that over the past two centuries, palace buildings have fallen into complete decline. Many institutions located in the Tower moved, and the vacant buildings were either abandoned or destroyed. The only positive moment of the 19th century in the history of the castle was the construction of the stables in 1825 and the Waterloo barracks in 1845. Both buildings are made in the architectural style of the "Gothic revival", which appeared in the 18th century as a result of awakened interest in the medieval past of the country.

During the First World War, the castle was not damaged, although one German bomb fell into the moat (fortunately, it did not explode). But World War II left more serious traces - on September 23, 1940, during the "Battle for England", German bombs destroyed several buildings, only miraculously not damaging the White Tower. After the war, it took several years to fully restore the destroyed buildings.

In the 21st century, tourism has become the main function of the Tower. Almost all the military institutions once housed in the castle have moved, although the ceremonial headquarters of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and the museum of this regiment are still located here. Also, one of the units of the Royal Guard, guarding Buckingham Palace, still stands guard over the Tower and, together with the beefeaters, takes part in the nightly Key Ceremony. Several times a year, the cannons of the Tower also remind of themselves - they fire 62 volleys on the occasion of events related to the royal family, and 41 volleys in all other cases.

Administratively, the Tower of London is managed by the independent organization Historic Royal Palaces, which does not receive funding from the state budget. In 1988, the castle was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as an object of special historical importance. According to the "Historic Royal Palaces", the castle is visited annually by about 2.5 million tourists from different countries.

Tower plan

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

beauchamp tower bell tower bloody tower Archer's tower Bastion Copper Mountain brick tower Tower Broad Arrow inner gate casemates ruins of Coldharbor Gate constable tower lullaby tower Devereux tower davelin tower flint tower hospital water gate of Henry III lanthorn tower Goraa Legg Bastion fragment of an ancient Roman wall drawbridge pit of the Lion Tower martin tower Middle tower mint street New armories queen's house salt tower scaffold Central courtyard tower of st. Thomas tower meadow wall of the central courtyard dressing tower water lane Waterloo Barracks, Treasury well tower jetty

Tower (photo gallery)

Treasures and crown jewels in the Tower

The tradition of storing royal treasures in the Tower seems to date back to the reign of Henry III (1216-1272), when the House of Jewels was built in the castle specifically for the purpose of storing gold, valuables and royal regalia used in the coronation ceremony. In case of dire need, the monarchs took loans from usurers secured by these jewels, that is, the treasures gave the kings a certain financial independence from the barons and parliament, and therefore were carefully guarded. Already in the 14th century, a very prestigious and highly paid position of treasure keeper appeared, whose duties, in addition to protecting jewelry, also included the acquisition of new valuables and the hiring of jewelers.

In 1649, by order of Oliver Cromwell, all the treasures, including the royal regalia, were melted down, symbolizing the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the English Republic (it lasted from 1649 to 1660). When the monarchy was restored, it turned out that only a 13th-century spoon and three swords survived from all the treasures. Therefore, all the crown jewels had to be created anew.

Exposition "Row of Kings" in the Tower

Row of kings(Line of Kings) - a unique display of 10 life-sized equestrian statues in full knightly attire. It is believed to be the oldest permanent exhibition in the world. The exposition was created in 1688 to raise the prestige of the unpopular Stuart dynasty in the country. Several statues from the Tudor dynasty (XVI century) were brought to the Tower from Greenwich Castle, the rest were made by the best sculptors and carvers in England, including Grinling Gibbons, who also worked on carvings in St. Paul's Cathedral.

Since the "Row of Kings" performed a propaganda function, there were "good kings", such as Edward III and Henry VIII, and there were no "bad" ones - Edward II and Richard III. Later sculptures of Wilhelm III, George I and George II were added.

Today, the "Row of Kings" exposition is located in the Royal Armory (The Royal Armories) of the White Tower (No. 34 on) and additionally includes a large collection of medieval armor and weapons. The best exhibits are the magnificent armor of Henry VIII (three sets: 1515, 1520 and 1540), the gilded armor of Charles I (1612), the children's armor of Prince Henry Stuart (1608) and Japanese armor of the late 16th century, presented to King James I in 1613 year. Pay attention to the dimensions of the late armor of Henry VIII compared to the armor of his youth.

- follow the long path of the castle-prison, get acquainted with its symbols and admire the royal regalia - 2 hours, 45 pounds

- where, how and what kind of tea in modern London do true connoisseurs drink - 3 hours, 30 pounds

- discover the most colorful, musical and iconic area of ​​the city - 2 hours, 30 pounds

Exhibition of armor and weapons

royal menagerie

One of the exhibitions of the Tower dedicated to the history of the castle is the exposition "Royal Animals". It is located in the Brick Tower (No. 6 on) and tells about the royal menagerie, the first mention of which dates back to the reign of Henry III (1216-1272). In addition, in memory of some animals, their modern life-size sculptural figures are located in separate corners of the Tower.

For example, in 1251, the sheriffs (royal officials) of London were required to pay 4 pence daily for the maintenance of a polar bear donated by King Hakon of Norway. The bear attracted the general attention of the townspeople when he was occasionally let out on a long leash to swim and fish in the Thames. In 1254, the sheriffs were ordered to contribute money for the construction of an aviary for an elephant in the Tower of London - a gift from the French king Louis XI.

As a rule, the collection of animals was replenished with gifts from foreign rulers. For example, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III presented the English king with three lions. The exact location of the menagerie is unknown, but it has been established that it was the lions that were kept in the barbican (bridgehead), eventually called the Lion Tower (No. 23 on).

In the 18th century, the menagerie was opened to the general public: the visitor had to pay an entrance fee of one and a half pence or bring a dog or cat to feed the predators. Here, for the first time in Europe, a grizzly bear was kept, presented to King George III by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1811. In 1828, the menagerie already included 280 animals of 60 different species, but a few years later, in 1835, they were all transferred to the zoo in Regent's Park after a lion injured one of the soldiers.

Fusiliers in the 17th-18th centuries were arrows armed with flintlock guns (fusils), which were called fusils, in contrast to musketeers armed with muskets. Initially, the Fusiliers were used to cover artillery and as light infantry.

The Fusiliers Museum (The Fusiliers "Museum, No. 17 on) and a number of residential premises of lesser importance. The interior space of all defensive towers, as a rule, was also functionally used. For example, in the tower of St. Thomas (No. 32), Edward I received guests in front of a huge a fireplace (now you can see the king’s huge sleeping bed, carefully restored according to the records of the 13th century), and in the basement of the Wakefield Tower under Henry III there was a Conference Chamber (today you can see a reconstruction of the royal throne in it).

It should be noted that at the beginning of the 16th century, the Tower ceased to function as a royal residence, which in practice meant that there was no need for high-status living quarters (for the monarch and his family).

Chapel of St. Peter in Chains

The Chapel of St. Peter in Chains (St. Peter ad vincula, No. 10 on), built in the 12th century and substantially rebuilt in 1520, went down in history as the burial place of some prisoners of the Tower. Here, in front of the chapel, in rare cases, closed executions took place, for which a temporary scaffold was installed. In total, 7 people were executed in front of the chapel (these were individuals whose public execution could cause unrest among the townspeople). Nowadays, on the site of the scaffold, there is a glass memorial, the central element of which is a crystal pillow for executions, symbolizing the high status of those sentenced to death.

Mint

From 1279 to 1812 the Royal Mint was located in the Tower. At the Kings and Coins exhibition, you can learn about the history of the coinage and see some of the rarest and most valuable coins ever produced by the Tower of London Mint.

Yeomen (beefeaters)

Beefeaters- a popular nickname for the yeomen (ceremonial guards) of the Tower of London. The name (eng. beefeater - literally “beef eaters”) came either from the fact that the yeomen, as privileged servants, could consume an unlimited amount of meat from the royal table, or from the fact that they received a large amount of beef in their rations.

In principle, the historical function of the beefeaters is to guard prisoners and royal regalia in the castle, but in our time they all act as guides for tourists. Their official title is Yeomen Warders of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign "s Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary).

The yeomanry unit was created by Henry VII Tudor in 1485, and was conceived as the king's personal guard during his stay in the Tower. Since 1509, the castle ceased to be an official residence, but the beefeaters remained its guardians. Over time, when the Tower began to be actively used as a state prison, supervision over the prisoners of the castle was added to their duties.

Today, like five hundred years ago, 37 yeomen serve in the Tower. They are all retired members of the Army and Air Force who have served in the Army for at least 22 years and have earned the Long Service and Exemplary Conduct Medal. Until recently, retired naval officers were not accepted into the Beefeaters (since they take an oath not to the Crown, but to the Admiralty), but in 2011 the first yeoman from the fleet appeared, as well as the first female yeoman.

On normal days, Beefeaters wear a dark blue uniform with red embroidery. On the occasions of the arrival of the monarch in the castle or other ceremonial events, they put on solemn scarlet robes embroidered with gold. The uniform has not changed much since the Tudor dynasty; in the words of the Beefeaters themselves, it is "extremely inconvenient."

Every evening at 21:53 sharp, the chief yeoman guard takes part in the traditional ceremony of handing over the keys to the Tower of London to members of the Tower of London Guard, the other unit that guards the castle. The Ceremony of the Keys is one of the oldest military rituals in the world. It has been performed invariably since 1340. The tradition has not been interrupted for almost 700 years.

castle ravens

The Tower contains 8 ravens surrounded by honor and care. According to legend, if they leave the fortress, the kingdom will fall apart. Therefore, just in case, they cut their wings. These large majestic birds are looked after by a special beefeater keeper who personally buys meat for them every morning at the nearest market. A special allowance for keeping birds is allocated from the royal budget - about 100 pounds per bird per month. Each tower raven receives 200 grams of fresh meat daily, and once a week additionally fresh eggs and part of a rabbit.

The earliest evidence of keeping these birds in the castle dates back to 1883, but the tradition seems to have started much earlier. There is even a monument to the dead ravens in the castle moat. Feeding birds to tourists, as well as stroking or picking them up, is strictly prohibited.

ghosts

As befits any self-respecting English castle, the Tower is also haunted. The ghost of Henry VIII's wife, Anne Boleyn, who was executed in 1536, is periodically seen in the Chapel of St. Peter in Chains, where she is buried. Rumor has it that a ghost wanders around the White Tower, carrying a severed head under its arm. Other otherworldly inhabitants of the castle are the ghosts of Lady Jane Grey, Margaret Pole, Arbella Stuart and