The Tower of London

The Tower’s Cruel Past. The Ravens. The White Tower. Beefeaters.

The Ceremony of the Keys. The Museum of Arms and Armour.

The Tower on the north bank of the Thames is one of the most ancient buildings of London. It was founded in the ll^th century by William the Conqueror. But each monarch left some kind of personal mark on it. For many centuries the Tower has been a fortress, a palace, a prison and royal treasury. It is now a museum of arms and armour (доспехи), and as one of the strongest fortresses in Britain, it has the Crown Jewels.

The grey stones of the Tower could tell terrible stories of violence and injustice. Many sad and cruel events took place within the walls of the Tower. It was here that Thomas More, the great humanist, was falsely accused and executed. Among famous prisoners executed at the Tower were Henry VIII’s wives Ann Boleyn and Catherine Howard.

When Queen Elizabeth was a princess, she was sent to the Tower by Mary Tudor (“Bloody Mary”) and kept prisoner for some time.

The ravens whose forefathers used to find food in the Tower still live here as part of its history. There is a legend that if the ravens disappear the Tower will fall. That is why the birds are carefully guarded.

The White Tower was built by William the Conqueror to protect and control the City of London. It is the oldest and the most important building, surrounded by other towers, which all have different names.

The Tower is guarded by the Yeomen Warders, popularly called “Beefeaters” (охрана Тауэра). There are two letters, E. R., on the front of their tunics. They stand for the Queen’s name Elizabeth Regina. The uniform is as it used to be in Tudor times.

Their everyday uniform is black and red, but on state occasions they wear a ceremonial dress: fine red state uniforms with the golden and black stripes and the wide lace-collar (кружевной), which were in fashion in the 16^th century.

Every night at 10 p.m. at the Tower of London the Ceremony of the Keys or locking up of the Tower for the night takes place. It goes back to the Middle Ages. Five minutes before the hour the Headwarder (глава охраны) comes out with a bunch of keys and an old lantern (фонарь). He goes to the guardhouse and cries: “Escort for the keys”. Then he closes the three gates and goes to the sentry (часовой), who calls: “Halt, who comes there?” The Headwarder replies: “The Keys”. “Whose Keys?” demands the sentry. “Queen Elizabeth's Keys”, comes the answer. “Advance Queen Elizabeth’s Keys. All’s well”. The keys are finally carried to the Queen’s House where they are safe for the night. After the ceremony everyone who approaches the gate must give the password or turn away.

Art Galleries

The National Gallery. The Tate Gallery.

Turner’s Paitings. Modern Collection

If you stand in Trafalgar Square with your back to Nelson’s Column, you will see a wide horizontal front in a classical style. It is the National Gallery. It has been in this building since 1838 which was built as the National Gallery to house the collection of Old Masters Paintings (38 paintings) offered to the nation by an English private collector, Sir George Beamount.

Today the picture galleries of the National Gallery of Art exhibit works of all the European schools of painting which existed between the 13^th and 19^th centuries. The most famous works among them are “Venus and Cupid” by Diego Velazquez, “Adoration of the Shepherds” (Поклонение пастухов) by Nicolas Poussin, “A Woman Bathing” by Rembrandt, “Lord Heathfield” by Joshua Reynolds, “Mrs Siddons” by Thomas Gainsborough and many others.

In 1897 the Tate Gallery was opened to house the more modern British paintings. Most of the National Gallery collection of British paintings were transferred to the Tate, and only a small collection of a few masterpieces is now exhibited at Trafalgar Square. Thus, the Tate Gallery exhibits a number of interesting collections of British and foreign modern painting and also modern sculpture.

The collection of Turner’s paintings at the Tate includes about 300 oils and 19,000 water-colours and drawings. He was the most traditional artist of his time as well as the most original: traditional in his devotion to the Old Masters and original in his creation of new styles. It is sometimes said that he prepared the way for the Impressionists.

The modern collection includes the paintings of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Salvador Dali, Francis Bacon and Graham Sutherland, Peter Blake and Richard Hamilton, the chief pioneers of pop art in Great Britain. Henry Moore is a famous British sculptor whose works are exhibited at the Tate too. One of the sculptor’s masterpieces – the “Reclining Figure” – is at the Headquarters of UNESCO in Paris.