N. Kryazheva - The United States and the United Kingdom. Past and Present (pdf), страница 14

Each ofthem is architecturally different from the others, each has its own main street and square, its ownshopping center. Many monuments of London's history can be found in the city.The oldest part of the metropolis is the "City of London". The City extends over an area of about 2.5sguare kilometres in the heart of London. It is about two thousand years old. Nowadays the City is thefinancial center of Britain s banks,insurance companies, trading companies. It is full of life in daytime, but at night it is almost completelyempty (5,000 people live here).

St. Pauls Cathe-jral has always dominated its centre. The masterpiece ofSir Christopher Wren, st. Paul's Cathedral was built between 1675 and 1710 to replace the oldCathedral that was largely destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. This Cathedral can boast also of somesuperb carving by Grinling Gibbons. Wren himself is buried here, his tomb carrying the fitting injunction,"Lector, si momentum requires" (Reader, if you see his monument, look around you). It is an architecturalmasterpiece and one of the greatest English churches.

Admiral Nelson is buried here, too.The West End is the region for the rich. It is a very beautiful region with a lot of nice, cosy, old housesand a lot of expensive shops, cinemas, restaurants. All the historical places and famous parks are in theWest End. The West End, spreading from the political centre Westminster includes Piccadilly Circus andthe fashionable Covent Garden.

For generations Piccadilly has been the heart of London West End.London's busiest spot was named by a long - forgotten tailor Higgins, whose fortune had been madelargely by the sale of collars known as "piccadillies". When he retired Higgins built himself a grand house,which he called Piccadilly Hall. Every day over 50,000 cars, coaches and buses, carrying 200,000 people,pass the famous central fountain on the top of which stands a statue of Eros, the Greek God oflove. Piccadilly is a fine street stretching from the circus to Hyde Park Corner.

It has seen much historyover the centuries, and it has changed considerably. Many Londoners resort to Hyde Park on Sundays.Speakers from various political parties often hold public meetings here.Trafalgar Sguare is the natural centre of London. It hosts museums and galar-ies among them: theNational Gallery, the Tate Gallery and the British Museum. The main feature of the Square is Nelson'sColumn with the figure of the great seaman on the top.

Trafalgar Square is one of the busiest places inLondon.Just behind the Trafalgar Sguare is the National Gallery where there is one of the finest collections ofpictures in the world. The Natinal Gallery contains mostly European art from all periods between 1200and the end of the 19th century.The British Museum is one of the greatest and best-known museums in the world, both in thediversity of its collection and in their wide range and high qual-'ty- Of the all major departments into whichthe museum is divided, the most out-handing are: the Assyrian, the Egyptian and the Greek and RomanAntiquities.

There are also extremely important ethnological collections.The library, which is contemporary with the museum, consisted initially of the election of books from theKing's Library. The British Museum Library is a read-ln9-room and a reference library, but not the lendingone. It contains a collection of unique manuscripts and rare books.The Houses of Parliament is the seat of the British Parliament. The official naTie of the Houses of theParliament is the Palace of Westminster.

It is a remarkable example of Gothic architecture. The Housesof Parliament were connoted a century ago. The Clock Tower, which contains the hour-bell called "BigBen" is known all over the world.Buckingham Palace is the official home of the British royal family in Lond0n containing 600 rooms.Today the Queen lives at the Palace for only a part of th year and when she is in her residence the RoyalStandard is flown.The Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey face each other acroSs Parliament Sguare.Wesminster Abbey is not a Cathedral. It is a "Royal Peculiar royal property. In this lovely building we canlearn much.

Most of the kings and queens of England since William the Conqueror have been crownedhere, arid one may see the ancient Coronation chair. Many great men have been honoured by burial inWestminster Abbey. And the church is full of memorials to kings queens, statesmen, writers, andscientists, all of whom have played a part in shaping Britain's history.No10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's residence, is over 200 years old.

It has all modernconveniences. It has light, central heating, and several bathrooms. The Cabinet meets there. As "No10"two hundred years ago served rich men, so does the Executive of British Government, and its mainadministrative organs, tend to serve the rich men above all at present.The Tower of London was first built in the 11th century by William the Conqueror for the purpose ofprotecting and controlling the city.

The Tower has been a fortress, a palace, and a prison, and an arsenalof small arms and now it is a museum. The Tower of London is quarded by Beefeaters, who are dressedin old-fashioned traditional uniforms.The East End is the region for the poor. The East End is as different from the West End as can be.This is a vast area running eastwards from the City.

It includes all the main dock areas and is heavilyindustrialized. Despite many houses built by the council there are still miles of little dwellings and slums.The Port of London is also in the East End.One can say that "the CITY is the money of London", "the WEST END is the goods of London","the EAST END is the hands of London".There are many parks and gardens in London. The best known are Hyde Park, Regent's Park and StJames's Park. They are all within easy reach of the centre of London. Hyde Park is a royal park since1536.lt is famous for its Speaker's Corner, where people go when they want to tell other people abouttheir political opinions. Regent's Park is in the north-west of London. It is the home of the London Zoo. St.James's Park is the oldest and the smallest of the royal parks.

It is near the Buckingham Palace.London is known by its system of public transport which includes red buses, black taxis, and anunderground railway called "the Tube".London is one of the world's most enjoyable capitals of Europe.CARDIFFBeing the capital of Wales, financially and industrially, Cardiff is the most №portant city in an upland country. Hundreds of thousands of the inhabitants ofWales live and work here. In the roads leading to the docks of Cardiff you will findmuch as in Liverpool, Marseilles or any other great commercial port, theextraodinary mixture of humanity that great ocean-going ships always seem t0 attract.

Here you will findlittle that is typically Welsh, here is Tiger Bay.But away from the docks Cardiff is a beautiful city. Cathay's Park, the centre of the civic life of the city,with its exceptionally fine group of municipal buildings and its National Museum of Wales, where you willfind an enthralling collection of Welsh art and handicraft, both ancient and modern, is a splendid place.With the university and its animated groups of Welsh youths and maidens who swarm around its building,you touch upon one of the essential enthusiasms of the Welsh people, their passionate love and desirefor knowledge.There is much cultural activity in Wales,especially in literature, drama and fliusic.Two of the majorannual professional arts festivals are held at Swansea, Wales second largest city, in St.

David's Hall inCardiff. Numerous amateur festivals are held regularly. Welsh is the official language of the festival; theWelsh try to use the festival to keep alive the ancient Welsh language.Prizes are awarded for music,prose and poetry, art and drama.The establishment of the University of Wales situated in Cardiff is closely connected with the foundingof the National Library of Wales and the National Museums and Galleries of Wales and the revival of thelargest of these festivals i.e. the Royal National Festival, known as Eisteddfod. It is the largest youthfestival in Europe.EDINBURGHEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, it is in the east of the country on the river Forth, Edinburgh isthe centre of business, industry and education of the country.From the streets in the centre of the city you can see the ships coming to Edinburgh from differentcountries of the world.

The highest hill, called "King Arthur's Chair", is 300 metres above sea level. In the"Old Town" the narrow houses with narrow windows are climbing up by narrow streets towards theancient Edinburgh Castle. This building on the Castle Rock 150 metres high is one thousand years old.The modern town is in the valley. The streets are straight and well planned, so that you can easily goabout the town. Scotsmen say that St.

Petersburg and Edinburgh are the only cities in the world with sucha splendid layout. The main street, Princess Street, is a mile long with beautiful houses and a monumentto Walter Scott. A road bridge over the river Forth was opened in 1964. It is now the fourth of its kind inthe world.Edinburgh has a busy cultural life. Every year, in September, the International festival takes place.Musicians, actors and singers come from all over the world and thousands of visitors fill the city. In theevening, the opera house, the theatres and the c°ncert halls are full. In cafes and pubs small groups sing,act and read poetry.No wonder, that Edinburgh is sometimes called "the Athens of the North".MANCHESTERManchester is the second biggest city in Lancashire after Liverpool. It is the industrial capital of theNorth of England. It has a climate, which is neither cold nor hot.The highest summer temperature is 270°C, the lowest winter temperature is 6°C.Manchester is the fifth largest port in Great Britain although it is 56 km away from the sea.

It isconnected with the sea by the Manchester Ship Canal. The city ^as founded in the Roman times. In laterhistory Manchester was the centre of the cotton trade not only in Great Britain, but in the whole world. Atpresent its ffljlls and factories produce different electronic machines, chemical and plastic materials, raincoats and other things. Manchester has a large and rich industry, jtalso produces different foods, clothes,soap and perfumes.The population of Manchester is about 680,000 people.