Tower Castle and Tower Bridge have been unshakable symbols of London for centuries. Today, this is a complex of buildings from different times, surrounded by two rows of wide fortress walls with towers, the Tower is located on the north bank of the Thames.
History of the Tower of London
The Tower of London is the best preserved castle in Europe, and the castle is “venerable”, it is more than 900 years old! The Tower has never been taken by storm; the thickness of the castle walls is more than 4.6 meters. The Tower of London was both the home of kings and a prison for persons of noble origin, including royalty.
To even tell a short history Tower, it will take a very long time, because it began long before the official foundation in 1066. The founder of the castle was William the Conqueror, but long before that, Roman fortifications were founded on the site of the modern Tower, and today's castle preserves parts of them.
Large-scale reconstruction and strengthening of the Tower was carried out by Henry III, reconstruction began in 1238, despite the young age of the king, he was only 9 years old, this is the most ambitious work to strengthen the Tower. During the reconstruction, a new defensive wall with nine new towers appeared. In 1240, the walls of the tower were painted white, and later the Tower received a new name - the White Tower.
Over its 900 years, the Tower is both the residence of kings and the mint, state archive, where many historical and legal documents were kept.
Tower of London - a prison for royalty
The fact that the Tower was a state prison from the day of its foundation brought it an ominous reputation; the first prisoner was imprisoned in the fortress in 1190. Over the centuries, the walls of the Tower have witnessed human grief and tragedy.
Famous prisoners were imprisoned in the fortress: King James I of Scotland, John II, King of France and the French Prince Charles of Orleans, Henry VI; children were not spared; it was here that the murder of two little princes Edward V and Richard took place. Three English queens were executed on the territory of the Tower, two of them Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were the wives of Henry VIII, as well as the “queen for 9 days” Jane Gray.
Black Ravens of the Tower
Black crows that live in countless numbers in the Tower of London are not only the main legend, but also real symbols of the castle. The first raven appeared in the Tower in 1553 during the nine days of Jane Gray's reign and said the famous "Vivat!" Since then, the black raven has been a harbinger of terrible punishment, he invariably appeared to those who were doomed, this happened until the Tower became just a museum.
There is now a belief that as long as winged guards live in the Tower, the British crown will prosper. Charles II issued a decree according to which at least six black ravens were to be kept in the castle at all times, and a special keeper was to keep them. This tradition is clearly observed today; a substantial budget is allocated for the maintenance of seven ravens (one in “reserve”). Each raven has a name and a spacious enclosure, each with its own character. Their daily diet includes 200 grams. fresh meat, blood biscuits, fried toast. Tourists enjoy watching living legends.
Ghosts of the Tower
London with its history is considered the leader in the number of ghosts living in it. It is full of ghosts of kings and queens, and of course the Tower, with its tragedies and bloody executions, was no exception.
It is said that the ghost of King George II often looks out of the windows, watching the weather vane. The beheaded Anne Boleyn often walks through the park of the fortress; the ghosts of children and the murdered twelve-year-old King Edward V with his nine-year-old brother Richard have also been seen here. But these are legends, it’s up to you to believe in them or not, but the Tower of London is also centuries-old traditions, ceremonies, the holding of which has remained unchanged for centuries. One of them is the Ceremony of Keys.
Ceremony of the Keys in the Tower
This tradition has been unshakable for seven hundred years. Every day, at exactly 21.53, the key keeper leaves the Byward Tower, and the Key Guard comes to meet him. The Keeper is dressed in Tudor costume. The guards lock the Main Gate and approach the Bloody Tower, a traditional dialogue is heard that begins with the words: “Wait, who’s coming?” and ends: "God save Queen Elizabeth." At night, the keys are kept in the manager's residence.
An interesting fact is that this tradition is unshakable under any circumstances; it was delayed for half an hour in 1941, during a direct attack on the Tower by Nazi bombers.
Entrance to the ceremony of keys is by invitation cards, which anyone (!) can receive by writing a letter in advance (two months in advance).
Postal address:
The Ceremony of the Keys,
HM Tower of London,
London EC3N 4AB.
Tickets will be sent to you by mail absolutely free of charge.
Royal Treasury
One of those places that you simply must visit is the Royal Treasury, where the royal regalia are kept today. The oldest artifacts from the Restoration were stolen and melted down by Cromwell, but today you can admire the Queen Mother’s crown with the Koh-i-noor diamond. Diamonds "Cullinan-I" and "Cullinan-II" in the scepter of Edward VII and in the crown of the British Empire.
In 1671, Colonel Blood made an unsuccessful attempt to steal them, but Charles II not only did not execute the insolent man, on the contrary, he was awarded a lifelong pension for insolence and courage.
The White Tower, the Queen's House (XVI century), the Royal Church (1080), St. John's Chapel - this is only part of the attractions of the Tower of London, which still holds many secrets.
Opening hours
Summer time from March 1 to October 31:
Tuesday - Saturday9.00-17.30
Last entry 17:00
Winter time from November 1 to February 28
Tuesday - Saturday9.00-16.30
Sunday – Monday10:00 – 17:30
Last entry 16:00
The Tower of London is closed from 24 to 26 December and 1 January every year.
It is recommended that I spend less than 2-3 hours exploring the Tower of London.
Entrance prices
Adult ticket £20.90 (€ 26.54)
Ticket for a child (under 16 years old) €10.45 (€ 13.27)
Tickets for students and pensioners €17.60 (€ 22.35)
Family ticket (2 adults + 6 children) €55.00 (€ 69.84)
Prices for audio guide in Russian
for adults €4.00 (€ 5.08)
for a child (up to 16 years old) €3.00 (€ 3.81)
For a family (2 adults + 6 children) €12.00 (€ 15.24)
How to get to Tower of London
Tower Hill, EC3, entrance via Tower Moat.
Metro: Tower Hill station (single € 4 (€ 5.08) or daily pass € 8.40 (€ 10.67)) there are numerous signs leading from the station.
Bus routes No. 15, 42, 78, 100 (single € 4 (€ 5.08) or daily pass € 8.40 (€ 10.67)).
The Ceremony of Keys, during which guards lock the Tower's main gates, is one of Britain's most enduring traditions and has been performed daily for over 700 years. The tradition was broken only once - on April 16, 1941. On this day, a bomb hit the Tower, and the procession was postponed... for only 30 minutes. Anyone can attend the ceremony live, but for this you need to have a special invitation. Today we will tell you how to get it.
The Ceremony of the Keys is very popular, so you should arrange your invitation in advance. To do this, just list the names of the guests and indicate two preferred dates for visiting in a short letter. The letter is sent to the Tower Office no later than two months before the visit, and better than a month for three or four. The text of the letter can be free.
Invitation Request Template
Dear Sirs!
We (Lina Stogova, Ivan Ivanov) would be happy to receive the tickets to attend the Ceremony of the Keys on April 21, 2017 or April 22, 2017.
Enclosed you will find a self-addressed prepaid envelope.
Thank you for your kind attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Ivan Ivanov
Russia
You will receive an invitation to the key ceremony from the Tower office if you pay for the response letter.
The first way is to use an envelope with postage stamps of the British Kingdom or international IRC coupons, but it is extremely difficult to find them in Russian Post offices. You can purchase IRC coupons through foreign friends or on the Internet. We sign the paid envelope and enclose a letter of request.
Another way to pay for a letter is an invitation, which is much simpler. This is an online payment on the UK Royal Mail website. Following the step-by-step algorithm, this is easy to do:
Now go to your nearest post office and buy an envelope and stamps to send your letter to the UK. The post office staff will tell you how many stamps you will need. In the envelope you put the letter and a printed envelope for the answer. Please provide the recipient's address: Ceremony of the Keys Office Tower of London LONDON, EC3N 4AB Great Britain. Write “Great Britain” above the address in Cyrillic. Don't forget to indicate the sender's address - all in Latin!! We send a letter and wait for a response.
The Tower is a very important topic for our readers. Although we have already written about him and the popularity of these materials is so high that we continue the series of essays about the Tower. Not many people know that, in addition to the famous Tower ravens, the Tower keeps many secrets. One of these secrets is the ancient ceremony of the keys. This ceremony has been performed every day since 1340! We will soon celebrate 700 years of this ritual. Today this is one of the most ancient military rituals. According to legend, King Edward III of England ordered the Tower guards to lock the gates at night. However, when he arrived at the Tower in the middle of the night, he found the gates open! From this moment on, the Tower always closes its gates at night and this ritual is solemn and unchanged for centuries. There is another version of the origin of this ritual. The grandson of Edward III, King Richard II, who ruled at the end of the 14th century, ruled like Yanukovych and provoked the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 under the leadership of Wat Tyler. The people, exhausted by plague epidemics, the Hundred Years' War, heavy taxes and religious strife, rebelled! The rebels even captured the Tower (like the Ukrainians did government buildings); after the rebellion was suppressed, the Tower Guards were assigned armed guards to lock the gates.
This ritual is documented in the “Code for Officers and Servants of Civil and Military” dated October 12, 1555. During the reign of Mary Tudor, the same zealous Catholic who drenched England in blood, in whose honor the famous cocktail “Bloody Mary” appeared. Every evening, at seven minutes to ten (purely English punctuality), the Chief Warden of the Yeoman Tower (the same one as Beefeater), in the traditional red vestment and bonnet (a Tudor hat), leaves the Byward Tower. In one hand he carries an ancient lantern with a candle inside, in the other - the Royal Keys. He moves along the Water Lane to the Gate of Traitors. Here a guard of four soldiers from the Royal Guard regiment awaits him. The Chief Warden Yeoman hands the lantern to the soldier, and the procession heads towards the Outer Gate. This is followed by a tour of the entire Tower, after which the guard returns to the Gate of Traitors, where a sentry awaits them at the arch of the Bloody Tower. Here a ritual exchange of passwords takes place. Next, the Chief Warden Yeoman and his guard pass through the arch of the Bloody Tower and climb the stairs on the back flight, which by this moment are lined up with guards and sentries of the Tower. After this, the command for guard duty follows, the clock strikes 10 o'clock, and the bugler plays the evening roll call. The ceremony is over. The Tower of London is believed to be locked at night.
However, the ceremony was disrupted at least twice, once due to bombing during the Second World War, and again in 2012! On Guy Fawkes Night (November 5), an unknown person entered the Tower and stole the keys... Why Russian government didn’t connect, because it pathologically hates Britain and could make their hooligan heroes incomprehensible.
I hope the details were not too tedious, and my photo report “London. The Ceremony of the Keys in the Tower did not seem boring.
1 Ceremony of the Keys
Key handover ceremony. This refers to the daily ceremony when the Chief Yeoman Warder and his escort close the gates of the Tower of London at 10 pm. On the way back, the guard turns to them with the words: “Stop, who’s coming?” The head gatekeeper replies: “The keys.” The guard's question: “Whose keys?” “Queen Elizabeth’s keys,” the gatekeeper replies. Then the sentry takes guard, and the senior guard, taking off his headdress, exclaims: “God save Queen Elizabeth!”, to which everyone present responds “Amen!” After this ceremony, the keys are left at Queen's House, inside the Tower.
2 Ceremony of the Keys
[,serɪmənɪəvðə"kiːz]
key handover ceremony (daily; takes place at the Tower of London at 10 pm; the senior guard closes the gate and, after the traditional password dialogue with the sentry, hands over the keys to the resident commandant for safekeeping)
See also in other dictionaries:
Ceremony of the Keys- Ceremonies known as the Ceremony of the Keys are held in at least two locations in the United Kingdom: London, and Edinburgh, as well as Gibraltar. London Probably the best known such ceremony is the one that takes place every night at the Tower... ... Wikipedia
Ceremony of the Keys- a ceremony that takes place at 10 p.m. every night at the Tower of London, when a beefeater closes the gates, exchanges secret passwords with a guard, and gives him the keys. * * * …Universalium
(the) Ceremony of the Keys- the Ceremony of the Keys a ceremony that takes place at 10 p.m. every night at the Tower of London, when a beefeater closes the gates, exchanges secret passwords with a guard, and gives him the keys … Useful english dictionary
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Having crossed the bridge over the moat, we find ourselves in Water Lane, where the Traitors' Gate is located - the water gate to the castle, through which prisoners were transported along the Thames to the Tower. Elizabeth I came to the Tower this way and spent two months in captivity on the orders of her half-sister Mary I. Anne Boleyn was taken to execution through the same gate.
The White Tower is the main building of the Tower of London, from which this fortress began. And from which she inherited her name.
Entrance to the territory royal residence prohibited, and it is guarded by brave guards in fur bear hats.
I wonder if anything is visible under this cap, or is he moving on the instruments?
Yeomen or Beefeaters
The traditional Tower guards today serve more of a decorative function. 37 yeomen work as tour guides. Despite this, the selection for yeomen is still very strict. Only retired military personnel who have served for at least 22 years and have earned a Medal for Long Service and Exemplary Conduct can join the Beefeater Squad.
The yeoman's uniform is called Tudor dress. She looks bright and attractive, but according to the Tower guards themselves, the costume, sewn according to medieval patterns, is completely uncomfortable. However, traditions are traditions.
Yeomen are also called beefeaters, but even the yeomen themselves do not know the exact origin of this nickname. There are different options, mostly mentioning the luxurious allowance of the guards, but no one can say exactly how it was.
How to find: Nearest metro station is Tower Hill. Follow the signs for the metro. From the station to the Tower it is about 5 minutes on foot.
Stop river transport Tower Pier. Vessels depart from Charing Cross, Westminster and Greenwich.
Opening hours:
Visit London and not visit the Tower? Yes, I did it. :) On my first visit in February, I reached the Tower around four in the evening and all I could do was look longingly at the turrets behind the powerful walls. And all because the time to visit the Tower is very limited.
In addition, if you are going to listen to a tour with a yeoman, then you need to arrive no later than half past three.
Ticket price 2019*
In Britain, museums are either free or terribly expensive. Especially if you remember about the exchange rate of the pound. The Tower is an expensive destination, but you can save money by taking advantage of the 2-for-1 program or paying £53.00 for an Annual membership for unlimited entry to six castles
- Adult £24.70 (on-line) / £27.50 (on-site)
- Child (Children aged 5 to 15 must be accompanied by an adult.) £11.70 / £13.10
- Children under 5 years old are free.
- Concession £19.30 / £21.50
- Family Up to 1 adult and 3 children from 5 to 15 years old. £44.40 / £49.40
- Family Up to 2 adults and 3 children from 5 to 15 years old. £62.90 / £69.90
*All prices are indicated without additional voluntary contribution.
Photo and video shooting: allowed almost everywhere, with the exception of the exhibition of royal regalia.
What else to see near Tower of London
Below I have included a map of London with my plans to take over the world. There are several layers on it and in each you can find something interesting.
February 2016, prices - April 2019
