When talking about the symbols of England, the famous landmark of London immediately comes to mind - the Big Ben tower.

What is Big Ben

Big Ben is the largest of the six bells in the Palace of Westminster. Many people think that this is the name of the clock tower in London, but in fact this is the name of the 13-ton bell that is located inside it, behind the dial.

Big Ben's official name was the "Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster". In 2012, by decision of the British Parliament, this landmark of England was renamed the Elizabeth Tower (in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s reign).

Despite other names, the name "Big Ben" remains the most popular and is used to generically refer to the tower, clock and bells.

All about Big Ben: history and description

The clock tower was built in Westminster in 1288 and at that time had a completely different appearance.

In 1834, there was a huge fire in the Palace of Westminster and everything burned down. Its restoration was undertaken by Charles Barry, together with the architect Augustus Welby Pugin, who designed the current clock tower in a neo-Gothic style. In 1859, when Big Ben was built, the clock was launched and to this day it accurately keeps time.

There are two popular versions of who the London clock is named after. The first version goes like this: the tower got its name in honor of Benjamin Hall - the one who built Big Ben, or rather supervised the construction, he was quite large in build and was often called Big Ben. Another version of why the clock tower is called this way is in honor of the popular heavyweight boxer Benjamin Count.

Height of Big Ben

The tower and spire measure 320 feet (96.3 meters). To imagine what Big Ben looks like, imagine the height of a 16-story building.

The tower has no elevators or lifts, so it is not open to the public. Sometimes exceptions are made to this rule, and then visitors climb 334 steps to get to the top.

Watch

The clock on Big Ben in London is still the largest in the world. The diameter of the dial is 7 meters. The length of the hands is 2.7 and 4.2 meters.

The clock mechanism is considered the standard of reliability; its total weight is 5 tons. The watchmaker Edward John Dent was responsible for its assembly and completed the work in 1854. A fundamentally new double three-stage movement was created, which allows for better separation of the pendulum and the five-ton clock mechanism.

The clock is so reliable that even during the Second World War, when German bombing damaged two dials and the roof of the tower, it did not disrupt its operation. Thus, this British landmark has become a symbol of the accuracy and reliability of all things English. At the bottom of each dial is the inscription “God Save Our Queen Victoria”, which is also absolutely in the English spirit.

13 tons - that’s how much Big Ben weighs (the largest bell in the Palace of Westminster).
The London clock is the international time standard and is also considered the largest four-sided striking clock in the world.
The accuracy of the clock is adjusted using a 1 penny coin (if necessary, a coin is placed on the pendulum and its movement slows down by 0.4 seconds per day).
In the bell tower, in addition to Big Ben (which sounds every hour), there are four more quarter notes that ring every quarter of an hour. A melody consisting of 20 consecutive Cambridge chimes is issued, each quarter of an hour having its own composition of chimes.
The British celebrate the New Year to the sounds of Big Ben, and also mark all mournful events and moments of silence.
News programs in England begin with a photograph of this tower.
Almost all documentaries and feature films about England use an image of Big Ben in their screensavers.
Once upon a time, Big Ben housed a prison for parliamentarians who behaved violently at meetings; the last prisoner was Emmeline Pankhurst, she fought for women's rights. In honor of this woman, a monument was erected in Parliament Square, where Big Ben stands.

Information about Big Ben: where it is located, address on the map

Location: London, Parliament Square

Address: Palace of Westminster, Old Palace Yard, London SW1

Nearest metro station: Westminster on the Circle

How to get there by bus: to Parliament Square or to the Whitehall Street (Trafalgar Square) stop.

If you suddenly get tired of the imposing architecture of the Kingdom of Great Britain, you can visit one of the very first Madame Tussauds museums, with a unique collection of wax figures.

When people talk about the symbols of England, the famous Big Ben tower immediately comes to mind. This is the most popular attraction in the capital of Great Britain and is the hallmark of London.

What is Big Ben"

It is by this name that one of the three towers of the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, located on the banks of the River Thames, is known throughout the world. In fact, this is the name of the 13-ton bell that is located inside it, behind the dial.

Official name modern Big Ben was the "Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster". By decision of the British Parliament, in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Queen's reign, this landmark of England was renamed the Elizabeth Tower.

The tower in London with the clock and bells is traditionally popularly called Big Ben. This name explains the origin story.

From the history of the tower

The clock tower, built in 1288 in the historic district of London, Westminster, originally had a completely different appearance. During a big fire it burned down, and another one was actually built in its place.

Architect Augustan Pugin designed the clock tower in neo-gothic style(stretched upward structures, columns, many openwork details, spiers) in order to diversify the appearance of the architectural complex and make it more memorable.

Parliament allocated money for the construction of the clock on the condition that it would be the most accurate in the world. The clock tower got its name in honor of the construction manager Lord Benjamin Hall. He was tall, noisy, loud-voiced, of large build, he was often called Big (big in English) Ben.

Description of the tower

The 96-meter tower, in association with the appearance of the lord, was called Big Ben. The brick tower is topped with a spire and faced with colored limestone. It rises on a 15-meter concrete foundation. There are no elevators here. The clock dials are installed at a height of 55 meters.

But the key to the popularity of Big Ben is not only in the features of the tower as an architectural structure. It is famous primarily for its legendary watches.

Tower clock

Accuracy - the politeness of kings. In London this saying is especially true. Of the several hundred city clock faces in the British capital, only the clock on the Big Ben tower works correctly. They were launched in 1859, and they still keep accurate time.

This watch - the largest in the world. There are four dials on Big Ben, according to the number of cardinal directions, where they naturally look: north, south, west and east.

Each of them is assembled from 312 pieces of glass opal and is enclosed in 7-meter steel frames with gold-plated outer discs. This mosaic and fragmentation gives the appearance of windows. These parts are easily accessible, which allows, if necessary, to penetrate inside the dials and carry out a routine inspection.

The 2.7 m long hour hands are cast from cast iron, and the 4.2 m minute hands are cast from copper. At the base of each of the four dials is an inscription in Latin: “God save our Queen Victoria.” This is a kind of tribute to the empress, who ruled the country for more than 63 years. It was during this era that the British Empire reached its peak.

Along the entire perimeter there is an inscription: “Praise the Lord!” The watch is very reliable. During the Second World War, during the bombing of London by German pilots, they continued to work, receiving significant damage to the dials.

Symbol of precision and reliability

How is flawless running ensured and maintained? The watchmaker Edward Dent assembled the clock mechanism. The creators have developed an original mechanism, an important part of which is the bells.

The largest in the Elizabeth Tower is main bell– Big Ben, who gave the name to the entire structure. It was cast by master Edmund Denison.

On a cart drawn by 16 horses, the 16-ton bell was solemnly delivered to the installation site to the jubilation of an enthusiastic crowd. Only the joy turned out to be premature: during the tests it cracked. I had to cast another one, already 13 tons.
It took the whole day to lift the giant up the tower. But after 2 months it also cracked. This time we limited ourselves to repairs that lasted 3 years.

To prevent the crack from spreading, a square cut was made in it. Surprisingly, it was this defect that created the unique resonating sound that distinguishes Big Ben from other bells.

For 150 years it has been ringing regularly every hour. The first blow of the hammer on the bell is accurate coincides with the first second of the beginning of the hour. The small bells surrounding him help him in this. Every 15 minutes they play a tune. Moreover, for each quarter of an hour there is its own composition of bell chimes.

The clock pendulum, which weighs 300 kg and is almost 4 meters long, is separated from the clock mechanism. It swings every 2 seconds.

If the clock decides to “cheat”, then a coin is placed on the pendulum, an old English penny, which speeds up movement by 2.5 seconds per day. After swinging with the coin for a while, the pendulum levels out its motion. Thus, by adding or removing a coin, the caretaker ensures the accuracy of the 5-ton mechanism. One day, when Big Ben fell behind by a second, the keeper almost resigned.

One day in 1949, the clock suddenly fell behind by a full 4 minutes! This became a real emergency. Everyone began to blame the mechanism, but it turned out that a flock of starlings had settled down to rest on the minute hand of the chimes.
The weather makes adjustments to the operation of the clock. In 1962 they became heavily icy. Deciding that breaking off pieces of ice was dangerous, experts simply turned off the clock until spring. In 2005, due to the terrible heat, the hands themselves stopped twice.
On December 31, 1923, the chimes of the Palace of Westminster Clock Tower were heard for the first time on BBC Radio, the largest broadcaster in the world in terms of audience reach. Since then, the sound of Big Ben on this channel has been heard twice a day. Moreover, it is broadcast exclusively live every time, thanks to the microphone installed inside.
It was Big Ben, located in London, that was chosen to proclaim the beginning of the 21st century on the night of December 31, 2000. This watch is the international time standard.
The British celebrate the New Year to the sounds of Big Ben, and also mark all mournful dates and moments of silence.
Once upon a time, Big Ben housed a prison for parliamentarians who behaved violently during meetings.
If there is an evening session of parliament in the Palace of Westminster, the lights at the top of the tower must be turned on. This tradition was invented by Queen Victoria so that she could see with her own eyes that parliamentarians were busy with work.

For a long time, the London dial was considered the largest in the world, until the record was broken by a clock located on a building in the state of Wisconsin in the USA. But the Americans did not add chimes to their chimes, so Big Ben still holds 1st place in the category “largest four-sided striking clock.”
Did you know that Big Ben is gradually tilting? Of course, it is far from the indicators of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but the fact remains a fact. The fact is that since the construction, the condition of the soil has changed a lot, which caused the “fall”. The construction of the London Underground's Jubilee line also played a catalytic role in this process.
As you travel around London, you will come across many smaller versions of Big Ben. “Clones” began to be installed at almost all city intersections.

How does the tower live today?

Travelers from different parts of the world find time to come here and admire the architectural splendor of the tower. And, of course, check the time. Excursions are prohibited here by government decision. The attraction is part of the architectural complex of the building of the current Parliament, the highest legislative body of the country.

London is rich in ancient attractions, but perhaps the most famous and attractive for tourists is the Big Ben clock tower. What is the history of this building?

Story

Construction of the building started in 1837 under the leadership of the talented architect Augustus Pugin. True, then it was simply called the Clock Tower. At that time, Queen Victoria had recently begun to reign, and subsequently occupied the throne for 63 years. The clock tower in the neo-Gothic style was conceived with the aim of diversifying the appearance of the architectural complex, making it more fresh and memorable.

For some time, the tower also managed to serve as a prison for imprisoned parliamentarians who caused outrages at meetings. For example, the ardent feminist Emmeline Pankhurst sat here, campaigning for women's rights. Now a monument has been erected in her honor near the Palace of Westminster.

Each of the four dials of Big Ben is engraved with an inscription meaning, translated from Latin, “God Save Queen Victoria I,” and the inscription “Praise be to God” can also be seen on four sides of the building.

The total height of Big Ben is 96 meters, of which 35 are the cast iron spire. The external cladding is Estonian limestone, which has been in demand for seven hundred years. Although the tower is smaller in size than its neighbor, the Victoria Tower, for some reason it is much more loved by the townspeople. Big Ben has an inexplicable charisma that has not let go of the attention of travelers for many years.

Clock structure and malfunctions

At a height of 55 meters from the ground there is a huge clock with a diameter of seven meters. Until 1962, these dials were the largest in the world, but then he had to give the laurels to the American Allen-Bradley clock tower (at the same time, Big Ben still remained the largest chiming clock tower, since the Americans did not equip theirs with bells). The clocks are located on all four sides of the tower.

The hour hands are made of cast iron, and the lighter minute hands are made of sheet copper. The dials themselves are made of expensive Birmingham opal, but not solid, but “split” into more than 300 pieces. Some of the pieces can be removed in order to get to the arrows. Unlike many other Roman numeral clocks of the time, the number 4 is indicated on Big Ben as IV rather than IIII.

The clock is set to Greenwich Mean Time, the most accurate in the world; perfect running has been carefully maintained since 1854. The creators developed a very original and even risky mechanism - they made the key winding not aperiodic, but a double three-stage one. This optimally separated the pendulum from the clock mechanism. The pendulum, by the way, weighs three hundred kilograms and is almost four meters long. It swings every two seconds.

When the decision was made to build the tower, the authorities promised to allocate money only on the condition that the clock on it would be the most accurate in the world. The designers had to try hard to convince them of this. However, like any clock, Big Ben starts to lag from time to time. Although this is a measly 2.5 seconds per day, accuracy must be maintained. To do this, a simple and ingenious method is used - an ancient British coin is placed on the pendulum. After swinging with the coin for a while, the pendulum evens out the clock. In this way, the mechanism has been functioning for more than one and a half hundred years. Of course, parts are periodically replaced or lubricated as necessary maintenance procedures.

Every year Westminster clockmakers have the huge responsibility of changing the time on the big clock when British Summer Time ends and Greenwich Mean Time begins. The process requires high precision and accuracy. In addition, watchmakers also service more than two thousand clock mechanisms located in parliamentary buildings.

Work stoppages:

A funny incident occurred in 1949 when the clocks began to fall behind by as much as four minutes. Many people spoke indignantly about the mechanism being too old, but it turned out that the culprit was a flock of starlings that sat down to rest right on one of the minute hands.

In 1962, Big Ben became heavily icy. Experts, having examined it, decided that breaking off pieces of ice would be dangerous, so the mechanism was simply turned off and turned on again in the spring.

In general, weather factors often caused problems with the operation of the watch. In 2005, due to terrible heat, the arrows stopped twice a day - although this is almost impossible to logically explain, there are no further assumptions about the reasons. The repairs took a record 33 hours in a row, while the hands moved with the help of a specially connected electric motor.

During the First and Second World Wars, a special regime was organized for the operation of Big Ben. At times the bell did not chime the time and the night lights did not turn on. However, the watch itself functioned properly. In 1941 the tower was damaged by bombing, but the damage was not too serious.

Bells of Big Ben

The name of the entire building was given by its largest and heaviest bell - Big Ben. It weighs 16 tons, and it was carried to the construction site on sixteen horses, while an admiring crowd of people ran around. However, during the first test the bell received a crack and was sent for repairs. The new bell became slightly smaller, weighing about 14 tons. Finally, on May 31, 1859, residents of the capital heard the first bell ringing of Big Ben.

True, the second version soon began to crack. They did not remove and change the bell again; they limited themselves to minor repairs. Today, a special square cut has been made in the device, thanks to which the crack does not spread. All this was reflected in the sound - the resonating chime of Big Ben cannot be confused with anything.

Around the giant there are several more modest bells. Every 15 minutes they play rhythmic melodies. There is a microphone installed inside the building, thanks to which the chime is broadcast on TV.

History of the name

The answer to the question of why the bell was named Big Ben does not have an exact answer, although there are two versions. The first is that it is named after Lord Benjamin Hall, a rather large gentleman with a deep, sonorous voice, who is the curator of construction work. Allegedly, at a meeting where the name of the bell was being chosen, he spoke for so long and tediously that someone from the audience shouted: “Let's give it the name Big Ben and finally calm down!” Some of the participants burst out laughing, but everyone liked the idea. Another version connects the giant bell with the then famous boxer Benjamin Count.

It was also proposed to name it after Queen Victoria, but this option did not gain popularity. And in 2012, the building was renamed, it was officially given the name of the current English Queen Elizabeth II, 331 members of parliament voted for this. Of course, among the people he has always been and remains Big Ben.

Big Ben today

The building does not host tourist excursions for foreigners; this is a government decision. Only a narrow circle of certain people can get inside; they have to climb a narrow spiral staircase with more than 300 steps - of course, there is no elevator in the tower. The main reason for the ban is the threat of terrorist attacks, because the building belongs to the premises of the country's parliament. However, from time to time excursions around Big Ben are held, but exclusively for British citizens, and they must be conducted by one of the deputies.

Panorama of Big Ben

True, right now the building is under reconstruction. Large-scale work was announced in April 2016 and will last three years, starting in 2017. But tours to other parliamentary buildings can still be booked. The last time extensive restoration work was carried out was thirty years ago, it is now necessary to ensure that the building is in acceptable condition and can be preserved for posterity.

Others are forced to be content with only the appearance of the tower and take pictures next to it. In London you can also find a great many small copies of the landmark. They are a cross between tall grandfather clocks and clock towers. These duplicates are located literally at every intersection.

On those days when Parliament sits in the tower in the evening, the lights at the top are always turned on. This is a tradition introduced by Queen Victoria so that everyone can see whether politicians are actually doing work or messing around. Since 1912, electric lamps have been used for this purpose, and earlier gas jets were used.

By the way, Big Ben is slowly starting to tilt. Of course, he is still a long way from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but changes in the ground are making themselves felt. The emergence of the Jubilee metro line also played a significant role. True, the builders claim that they have foreseen this. Since its construction, the tower has already shifted by 22 centimeters, causing a tilt of 1/250 to the north-west. Also, due to the weather, fluctuations of several millimeters regularly occur.

How to get to Big Ben?

The tower is located just a couple of tens of meters from Westminster metro station, which is served by trains of three lines - grey, green and yellow. So it’s very easy to get here from anywhere in the city for only one and a half pounds sterling (if you have an Oyster card, this is a kind of London travel card).

Big Ben on the map of London

In addition, there are quite a lot of bus stops in the Westminster area, and transport runs even at night. The bus fare is the same as the metro. But taxi services will cost much more - about seven pounds sterling per mile. However, if you are traveling without luggage, you can always rent a bicycle at a special self-service parking lot. This will relieve you from traffic jams and allow you to fully enjoy the atmosphere of the city. Journeys cost £2 every half hour.

General information about parliamentary buildings

Not only Big Ben, but also the Palace of Westmincer as a whole can be called the face of London. Meetings of both chambers of government are held here almost every day. The building, 300 meters long, looks very majestic, and the number of interior rooms exceeds 1200. If a person decides to walk around the entire palace, he will have to overcome a hundred stairs and about five kilometers of corridors in total.

The building was originally built for the royal family, but in 1834 a terrible fire left most of the rooms unusable, after which it was decided to rebuild it according to a new design in the Gothic style. True, the ancient architecture still remains in the large reception hall, as well as in the unique Jewel Tower, built to store the treasury of Edward III.

The palace is flanked by two towers, one of which is Big Ben, and the second is the Victoria Tower, which also serves as the entrance to the castle for the royal family; On holidays, the national flag is raised on it.

Tours of the palace are available to tourists, including foreigners, although this was not the case until 2004. Now, when the parliament is on vacation, tourists can take a walk around the legendary building, where the history of the country is being made to this day. In 1965, Britain solemnly celebrated the 700th anniversary of the English Parliament. Despite its importance, this government body did not have its own residence for a long time.

Only in 1547 did they begin to use the Chapel of St. Stephen, located in the old palace, as its function. To do this, it was necessary to distort the architectural style of the hall by placing benches around it. There were other inconveniences, but despite this, parliament met in the chapel until the fire of 1834. After perestroika, the organ finally acquired its own premises. The new building quickly became a landmark due to its impeccable architectural solutions, into which the Clock Tower fit very organically.

Big Ben has long been firmly entrenched in the hearts of the British as an unshakable symbol - the same as the Moscow Kremlin for Russians, and the Statue of Liberty for Americans. The image of the landmark is actively used in popular culture and art.

In the photo: tourists against the backdrop of Big Ben in London. Photo londontopia.net

Big Ben: Britain's most popular attraction

The Houses of Parliament, as well as the Elizabeth Tower (which is the official name of Big Ben), have become truly canonical symbols of London, and indeed the entire United Kingdom. This is confirmed by data from a survey conducted in 2008 with the participation of 2,000 people, according to which Big Ben was recognized Britain's most popular attraction.

Strictly speaking, the name Big Ben does not apply to the entire tower, but only to massive bell inside it, the weight of which is over 13 tons(more precisely 13,760 kilograms). The tower looks especially picturesque at night, when the four-sided clock dial is illuminated illumination.

Big Ben: interesting facts and figures

The clock mechanism was designed by a lawyer and an amateur watchmaker Edmund Beckett Denison together with the Astronomer Royal George Airey, who invented the double three-stage movement, providing the best possible separation between the pendulum and the clock mechanism.

The height of Big Ben is 96.3 meters, and the clock itself is at a height of 55 meters.

The diameter of each dial is 7 meters, and the clock mechanism weighs 5 tons - for a long time the Big Ben clock was considered the largest in the world.

The hour hands are 2.74 meters long, the minute hands are 4.2 meters long and weigh about 100 kg (including counterweights).

The height of the numbers on the Big Ben dials is approximately 60 cm.

Each dial consists of 312 pieces of glass.

The sound of Big Ben's chimes can be heard at a distance of up to 8 kilometers.

In the photo: the main bell of Big Ben. Photo: bbc.co.uk

During parliamentary sessions, the dials of Big Ben are illuminated with special lighting.

The accuracy of Big Ben is painstakingly adjusted by placing a stack of antique one-and-a-half penny coins, weighing one and a half grams, on the pendulum, changing the frequency of its oscillations. Each coin adds 2/5 of a second per day to the clock.

There were very few cases when the Big Ben clock was interrupted. Even when a bomb destroyed the House of Commons during World War II, the clock tower survived and Big Ben continued to show the time correctly.

The sound of Big Ben's chimes was first broadcast by the BBC on New Year's Eve 1924, a tradition that continues to this day.

In addition, the chime of Big Ben is broadcast annually on Remembrance Day - at eleven o'clock on the eleventh day of the eleventh month to commemorate the armistice that ended the Second World War.

The Latin inscription below the dial of Big Ben reads "DOMINE SALVAM FAC REGINAM NOSTRAM VICTORIAM PRIMAM", which means "God save our Queen Victoria the First". The perimeter of the tower is decorated with another inscription: “Laus Deo”, which means “Praise the Lord”.

Once every 5 years, the Big Ben dials are washed by professional window cleaners, who go down on ropes and very carefully wash the glass of the dials with soapy water, trying not to press on them with their hands.

In June 2012, the House of Commons announced that the clock tower would henceforth be named Elizabeth Tower in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.

In the photo: Big Ben during washing. Photo calgaryherald.com

History of Big Ben

The first clock tower of the Palace of Westminster was built in 1288, but it was destroyed by fire in 1834. In 1844 it was decided to build new Houses of Parliament, which would include a clock tower, and in 1858 a new tower was built, designed by the architect Augustus Pugin.

The first massive bell for the tower, weighing 16 tons, cast by John Warner and Sons, burst during the first tests.

The metal from which the cracked bell was made was melted down and a new bell weighing 13.7 tons was cast from it by the Whitechapel Company in 1858.

In addition to the main bell, the tower has four small ones that signal the quarter hours. They were cast by the same company, John Warner and Sons, in 1857-1858. The first chime of Big Ben was heard over Westminster on May 31, 1859. But some time later, in September 1859, Big Ben cracked again. Subsequently, a lighter hammer was cast for it, and the bell itself was turned towards the hammer with its undamaged side. Since then, the sound of Big Ben has not changed.

Why is the symbol of London called Big Ben?

Until now, the origin of the name Big Ben is not reliably known, although there are two different theories:

The first theory claims that Big Ben got its name in honor of Sir Benjamin Hall, the first director of bell casting - a large man who bore the nickname "Big Ben".

The second theory states that Big Ben was named after the then heavyweight boxing champion, Benjamin Count. The name “Big Ben” has since become a household word - it is often used when talking about the record holder for the weight of its kind.

Visiting Big Ben in London

To get acquainted with Big Ben, you can purchase a tour of the Houses of Parliament. For security reasons, the Elizabeth Tower itself is closed to the general public, although UK residents can arrange a visit by contacting their Member of Parliament (MP).

Requests to visit Big Ben should be submitted in writing as early as possible before the planned date of visit to the following address: House of Commons, Westminster, London, SW1A 0AA.

There is no elevator in the clock tower, so the only way to reach the top of Big Ben is via a 334-step staircase.

Big Ben coordinates for GPS: 51° 30" 03"" N, 0° 07" 29"" W

Big Ben address: Westminster, London SW1A 0AA

In London, this is the chiming clock tower located in the north-eastern part of the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London. Although the tower's actual name is the Clock Tower, it is often referred to as Big Ben, Big Tom or Big Ben Tower. The Clock Tower is one of the most recognizable landmarks in London and is a landmark, just like. Since its creation in 1859, it has served as London's most trusted watch and as part of celebrations throughout the year.

This world famous clock, located on a tower in Great Britain, can be heard in all corners of the world. The BBC radio broadcasts their fight every hour. It is with Big Ben on the night of 31/1 that the world officially enters into the next year.

As a rule, tourists are not allowed into Big Ben, but you can get to the very top of the tower (its height is 96 meters) via a narrow spiral staircase. As many as 334 steps lead to a small open area, in the center of which there is a great bell. The height of this bell is more than two meters, and the diameter is about three.

There are many interesting stories associated with the name of Big Ben. The official version of its name is as follows: the bell was named after the head of the main construction, Sir Benjamin Hall. This man was of impressive size, so he received the nickname Big Ben. Another version says that the bell began to be called that after the boxer and strongman of the times of Queen Victoria.

After the chimes, the very first strike of Big Ben precisely coincides with the first second of the hour. Every two days, the watch mechanism undergoes a thorough check of all mechanisms and lubrication, taking into account the pressure and daytime temperature. Like all clockwork, Big Ben is sometimes in a hurry or late. It should be noted that the error here is not very large, only one and a half to two seconds. In order to correct the situation, you will need a coin, namely the old English penny. To this day, no one knows exactly who first decided to use coins, but the unique idea worked perfectly. An old penny, if placed on a pendulum, can speed up its movement by two and a half seconds per day. By removing or adding pennies, the caretaker can easily achieve accuracy. The entire mechanism still works perfectly today, despite its weight of five tons and almost 1.5 hundred years of history.

Big Ben is the largest omnidirectional clock in the world.

A survey of 2,000 people was carried out in 2008 which concluded that the tower was Britain's most popular attraction.

Big Ben was built to replace the Old Palace of Westminster after it was destroyed by fire in October 1834.

Big Ben was designed by Charles Barry.

The clock and its sets were designed by Augusto Pugin.

The first 61 meters of the Clock Tower are made of brickwork and stone cladding, while the rest of the tower is made of cast iron.

The tower leans slightly to the northwest, 8.66 inches.

The Big Ben bell weighs 14.5 tons. This is a huge bell that inspired Benjamin Hall to give it the name Big Ben.

The bell of the Clock Tower did not stop working even during the Second World War

The tower is located on a 15-square-meter platform made of 3-meter concrete columns, 4 meters below ground level.

The four faces of the clock rise 55 meters above the ground. The internal volume of the tower is 4650 cubic meters

At the base of each dial there is a Latin inscription made of gilded letters. It says - Domine SALVAM FAC REGINAM NOSTRAM VICTORIAM PRIMAM, which means "Lord, see to the safety of our Queen Victoria first."

The Clock Tower is the focus of New Year's celebrations in the United Kingdom, with radio and television stations ringing its chimes to welcome the start of the year.

On Remembrance Day, the chimes of Big Ben are broadcast to mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

Big Ben is included in the Guinness Book of Records as the tower with the largest 4-sided clock. It also takes an honorable third place in the list of tallest clock towers. In 2009, Big Ben turned 150 years old, and the British celebrated this event with magnificent celebrations.

“But why only 150? - a reader who knows a little about history will ask. “After all, Big Ben is much older!” Yes this is true. But the old tower, built in 1288, did not survive: it and the Palace of Westminster itself were completely razed from the face of London by the fire of 1834. What we see today is a rebuilt version that appeared in 1858. The bell sounded again on the tower a year later - only in 1859

The Big Ben clock is especially striking. These are real giants with dials each seven meters in diameter. The length of the short hands is 2.7, the long hands are 4.2 m.

In 2012, Big Ben was officially renamed in honor of the current monarch of Great Britain, Queen Elizabeth II, and has since been officially known as the Elizabeth II Tower.