London+-+Vancea+Marius

London is the capital of England.



London is more than one of the great cities of the world - its almost a country in its own right. The sheer size and scope of London can make travel pretty intimidating for visitors. Even the act of travelling around Greater London can be daunting for the first time visitor. Fear not! We've made it easy for you! In our London Travel Guide you'll find out what to see and how to get there. We profile top London travel attractions and tell you how to get the most from your visit with first-hand information, tips, and tricks from experienced travellers. Its our hope that the London Travel Guide will make your trip to London easier and more enjoyable. Happy Travels!

Obviously, this is not the Medieval London Bridge. In fact, this bridge, completed in 1973, is only the latest of several bridges to bear the name of "London Bridge." What about the one before this one? That bridge is the "London Bridge" that was dismantled, exported, and reassembled at Lake Havasu in Arizona. But that one isn't the medieval bridge, either. Designed by John Rennie and built by his son, it was completed in 1831 as a replacement for the medieval bridge. The medieval bridge was dismantled utterly after the "New Bridge" was opened, and aside from a few carved objects made as souvenirs from some of the original pilings (and various pieces of stonework that were actually eighteenth-century additions to the original bridge), nothing remains but pictures. It's impossible to say when the Thames was first bridged at that location. Evidence from Roman times (consisting mainly of Roman coins found on the riverbed during the building of the 1831 bridge) suggests that the Romans might have built a bridge, but it is equally possible that the coins might have come from the sinking of a ferry. Also found were some iron "piling tips" but these might have come from any of several wooden bridges which were built in the last few centuries of the first millennium. The earliest reference to a bridge is in a Saxon record; it was mentioned as an execution site for a witch during the time when one Aethelwold was bishop of Winchester, which would have been sometime between 963 and 984. Wooden bridges, such as this one, were never intended to be really permanent. They fell down, burned down, were torn down, and otherwise required periodic replacement. One in particular deserves notice because an incident in 1014 is thought to have inspired the famous nursery rhyme about London Bridge. The story is that one Olaf sailed up the Thames with his fleet of longboats. For the Norsemen (who thought of rivers as highways, not barriers) the bridge was a navigational obstruction to be removed, and he proceeded to do just that. He had the piers of the bridge tied to his ships and, rowing downstream (and with the tide), tore the superstructure down. The Norse bards immortalized this great deed as follows: London Bridge is broken down,/ Gold is won, and bright renown./ Shields resounding,/ War-horns sounding,/ Hildur shouting in the din!/ Arrows singing, / Mailcoats ringing - / Odin makes our Olaf win!



Elevation, with dimensionsTower Bridge under construction, 1892 In the second half of the 19th century, increased commercial development in the [|East End of London] led to a requirement for a new river crossing downstream of London Bridge. A traditional fixed bridge could not be built because it would cut off access to the port fa [|To] ]