London, with an area of 1,580 square kilometers, is the largest city in Europe. It is home to approximately 8 million people, with an average of 4 million tourists a quarter. But all this is just data. In Supercurioso we invite you to discover the city from a new perspective less academic and more interesting. Here we present you 50 curiosities of London that will surely allow you to enjoy more of your next trip to this interesting city .
Districts with different flavors, monuments and parks that we have seen on countless occasions in films as well as interesting museums, many of them free, make spending a few days in London something exciting. Discover these curiosities of London !
50 curiosities of London
1. One of the essential visits is to the Tower of London. In this imposing building, truly atrocious acts were committed. Currently, it is one of the places where paranormal appearances Are registered.
2. Several wives of Enrique VIII remained imprisoned here, who were subsequently beheaded. Since then, there have been appearances of Ana Bolena (second wife of the monarch), holding her head under her arm. Besides, in this place numerous executions have been carried out. The last one of them not very distant: it was carried out by the German spy Josef Jakobs in 1941, during World War II.
3. Beefeaters is the name given to those in charge of guarding the Tower of London and maintaining the security of the British Crown Jewels, a treasure valued at 30 billion euros. However, it is a symbolic charge, since they are currently one of the main tourist attractions: they perform ceremonial tasks and act as guides.
4. The origin of his name is not entirely clear, although one of the most shuffled hypotheses refers to the words "beef" and "eaters" (meat eaters in the Spanish translation). This could be due to the fact that, in the beginning, the guards were paid with beef.
5. In the Tower of London you will always find 6 crows living. They are there for superstitious reasons since the reign of Charles II, as it says a legend that if there are no crows the British monarchy will end.
6. One of the curiosities of London It's the Tower Bridge. Until 1910, one could walk on the highest floor. However, the government ended up closing it because it became a point of reference for prostitution.
7. Another secretillo that we can tell you is that, passing under the bridge, you will discover a passage marked as "Dead Man's Hole". In it, the London police used to collect those corpses that appeared on the River Thames , which would try to be identified and, subsequently, buried.
8. Did you know that London buses were not always red? What a characteristic image, right? Well, initially there was a great competition between the different bus companies. In 1907 the company London General Omnibus Company chose the color red to differentiate itself from the rest of companies, and it seems that the strategy worked. Although it is a completely new data for us, it is one of the curiosities of London more known by its inhabitants.
9. The first traffic light in the world was installed in London in 1868, specifically in front of the Houses of Parliament. This worked with gas lamps of red and green colors, which had to be changed manually. However, the feat ended in tragedy: after two months of operation, the semaphore exploded taking the life of the policeman in charge of controlling the invention.
10. In the next of our curiosities of London We travel to the neighborhood that acquired so much fame thanks to the movie that bears the same name (starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant), the second largest carnival in the world, after the Brazilian one. Unlike the latter, which is celebrated in February, the British carnival takes place in August.
11. Although not used to be common, in London love to walk around cemeteries. It is not surprising that this is so, because they have really precious cemeteries, such as Highgate, where figures like Marx or Charles Dickens are buried.
12. And speaking of famous cemeteries, you may not know the underground cemetery located below the Aldgate station. It welcomes a whopping 1,000 bodies, victims of the great plague dated 1665.
13. Another curious cemetery that not everyone knows is the Pet Cemetery in Hyde Park, A recommended visit for all animal lovers. It is one of the most emotional corners. Its history goes back to the particular favor that a guard did to a family that wanted to bury their dog there. Currently, it has more than 300 tombs.
14. Speak the language you speak for sure that someone in London will be able to understand you. It is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. Altogether its inhabitants speak more than 300 languages.
15. There are more Indian restaurants in London than in New Delhi.
16. London was the first city in the world to reach one million inhabitants. He got it in 1811.
17. The one that is officially the "smallest statue in London" is on Philpot Lane. They are two mice eating cheese.
18. To know if the Queen is at that moment in Buckingham Palace you just have to look if the flag is on the stick.
19. This flag has its own name: it is the "Royal Standard". It is only hoisted in buildings in which the queen is present.
20. Big Ben is not the name of the most famous clock in London, but the bell that gave the hours.
21. In London there are more than 170 museums!
22. And you can also find more than 850 Art Galleries in the city.
23. One of the emblematic buildings of the city is Palace of Westminster. A of the curiosities of London is that inside there are eight bars, six restaurants, 1,000 rooms, 100 stairs, 11 courtyards and also among other things, a hairdresser!
24. In the Westminster Abbey is the tomb of Edmund Spenser, an admired Elizabethan poet. According to the legend and some historians, his friends and admirers threw in her elegies, among them the very Shakespeare. What we see is a marble gravestone, but it is not the exact site of the burial. This has been searched several times to see if the legend was true and recover those works, but has not been found.
25. In the city is the Great Ormond Street Hospital which is the first hospital for children in England, It was founded in London in 1852. For its maintenance it has the copyright of "Peter Pan" that was given to it in the testament of its author J. M. Barrie.
26. The London Underground is the first one that worked in the world. It was built in 1863.
27. There is only one subway station in London that has an entrance on both sides of the Thames: Blackfriars.
28. One of the curiosities of London is that its subway network runs more than half of its route on the surface and not underground.
29. 5 of the London Underground stations, known as the "tube" have pub names: Elephant & Castle, Angel, Swiss Cottage, Royal Oak and Manor House.
30. One of the oldest churches in London is "All Hallows by the Tower". The church has a museum called the Undercroft Museum, which contains fragments of a Roman pavement from the second century.
31. In Hyde Park there are more than 4,000 trees.
32. In London, the first public zoo in the world was opened in 1829.
33. London has the honor of being the first city to host the Olympic Games on three occasions. It was in 1908, in 1948 and in 2012.
34. The numbers 23 and 24 of Leinster Gardens look like two magnificent buildings that follow the aesthetics of their neighbors, but in reality they are simply facades that hide the passage of the subway tracks through this elegant neighborhood.
35. In the Thames you can see swans. Legend has it that they were brought by the king Ricardo Corazón de León from Cyprus and are owned by the Crown.
36. Another of the curiosities of London It has to do with higher education. In the city there are more than 43 university institutions.
37. The Christmas tree that appears every year ne Trafalgar Square is a gift from the city of Oslo in gratitude for the help provided by the British during the Second World War.
38. Trafalgar Square hides a secret. In the square there was a tiny police station, now in disuse, but you can still see. There was only one policeman in it and I'm sure it was the Smallest police station in the world .
39. If you are still in Trafalgar Square you will see in front of the National Gallery a small statue of George Washington. If we mention it in these curiosities of London it's because it's planted on imported land from the USA UU so that the politician would not miss his promise that "I would never set foot on English soil again".
40. There was also a small police station inside Marble Arch. Marble Arch was moved to its current location from the entrance to Buckingham Palace, which was its original location.
41. One of the most modern attractions in London is the "London Eye". It is the tallest ferris wheel in Europe and measures 135 meters in height.
42. Each of its cabins weighs almost 10 tons and can go up to 25 people.
43. In the center of London the circulation of automobiles is restricted. If you want to access with your car you will have to pay a rate of approximately 10 pounds between 7 in the morning and 5 in the afternoon.
44. Around London there is a ring road known as the "M25". It is one of the longest orbital roads in the world, covering a distance of more than 195 km.
45. There are more than 20 underground rivers circulating in the London subsoil, many of them tributaries of the Thames, which were led back by sewers or other types of pipes to be able to build on the surface.
46 At the eastern end of "The Mall" is the "Admiralty Arch" that was built in honor of Queen Victoria. The central door is closed and only opens for the real processions.
47. This same "Arch of the Admiralty" hides one of the curiosities of London more unknown. At about 2'1 meters on the inner wall of the northernmost arch there is a nose. No one really knows the reason for his presence.
48. The "Greater London" (which includes the 32 London municipalities, with the exception of the City) is surprisingly green and it is not surprising since 40% of its space is occupied by green areas.
49. London was the most visited city in the world until a few years ago when it was surpassed by Bangkok.
50. As the last of these curiosities of London we will tell you that there are many cities in the world called "London". Only in the USA there are 8.
London is a great tourist destination. If you have not visited yet, we encourage you to do so. Do you know any information that is not especially known about this British city? Have any of our proposals surprised you in particular? Tell us everything, we are eager to read you! And if you want to know more about England, one of the 4 nations that form the United Kingdom of which London is also the capital, we invite you to read the post: 50 Curious facts about England that will surprise you | With Images .
Images: Crazy Steve , Hywel Williams , , Diego Delso ,