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Trafalgar Square: Londoners' favourite s ...

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Type
Arte, Teatri e Musei
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Hosted in
Inglese

Description

The central Trafalgar Square is one of the symbols of the English capital and is definitely the favorite square of Londoners along with Piccadilly Circus. The square is dedicated to Admiral Horatio Nelson's victory over the Franco-Spanish fleet off Cape Trafalgar in 1805, a victory that forever sank Napoleon's dreams of maritime hegemony. It was designed by architect John Nash to redevelop the area where the royal stables have been located since the Tudor era. Even earlier, in 1200, here Edward I kept the royal hawks and falconers (The King's Cages, King's Mews). Work began in 1829 and was completed years later by the architect Charles Barry. The central point of the square is Nelson's granite column, 46.34 metres high, erected by William Railton in 1840-43. At the top is the statue of Lord Nelson, 5.30 metres high. At the base of the monument four bronze reliefs celebrate Nelson's victorious battles: St Vincent 1797, Abukir 1798, Copenhagen 1801 and Trafalgar 1805 in which Nelson died on board the Victory. Four colossal, squatting bronze lions, designed by the sculptor Sir Edwin Landseer and posed by Baron Marochetti in 1868, dominate the column. To the north of the square, since 1824, the National Gallery has been extended along its entire length. South of the square is the equestrian statue of Charles I Stuart, the King executed in 1649 by the Republicans of Oliver Cromwell. It is right below the statue of Charles I that many place the exact point where to calculate the center of London. To the south of the square is the Admiralty Arch, another monument erected in honor of the British power from which, through its majestic gate (Sovereign's Gate), you enter The Mall, the avenue crossed by the official royal parades, which leads directly to Buckingham Palace.

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