PLANOGRAPHY. 



Plans of the Principal Cities of Europe {Plates 33 — 44). 



1. London {Plate 33). 



London, the largest city in Europe, and the capital of the British Empire, 

 is situated on both banks of the Thames, about sixty miles from where it 

 empties into the North Sea. The population amounts to over two millions 

 (the London Police District, in 1849, included even 2,336,960), among 

 which are only about 8000 soldiers. It consists of three portions : the city 

 in the north and east, Westminster in the west, both on the north bank of 

 the Thames, and Southwark on the south bank ; the last belongs to the 

 County of Surrey. The City, or Old Town, of an area equal to one square 

 mile, is divided into twenty-six districts. It is contracted and irregularly 

 built, but constitutes the heart of the city or the principal seat of commerce. 

 The principal streets are Cheapside and Fleet street. The most conspicuous 

 buildings are St. Paul's Cathedral, the largest Protestant Church in the 

 world, 500 feet long, 250 feet broad, and 356 feet high, with a dome 282 

 feet high, 140 broad, and resting upon thirty-two columns ; it contains fifty 

 monuments, among them one of Nelson, who is here buried. There are, 

 likewise, the Tower, on the Thames, an old citadel, and formerly the royal 

 residence, containing many dwelling houses, the Magazine, the Mint, the 

 Public Archives, prisons of state ; the Bank ; the new Exchange, 293 

 feet long, 175 broad, with a portico, a tower 160 feet high, and a place of 

 assembly 270 feet long and 112 wide; Guildhall, with a hall 153 feet long, 

 48 broad, and 55 high, capable of accommodating several thousand persons ; 

 the Custom House, 480 feet long, with a beautiful facade, and a hall 190 

 feet long and 66 broad ; the East India House ; Newgate Prison (capable 

 of containing 900 persons). In the city is also the Monument, a column of 

 marble 200 feet high, in commemoration of the great fire of 1666. 



Westminster, the finest and most regularly built part of London, is 

 divided into sixteen districts. The principal streets are the Strand ; 

 Piccadilly, with the Burlington Arcade, 600 feet long, and lighted from 

 above with glass windows ; Regent street, Oxford street, and New Bond 

 street. The principal squares are Covent Garden, Hanover, Charing Cross, 

 with the equestrian statue of Charles I , Lincoln's Inn Fields, St. James's 

 square, with the statues of the Duke of York and William III. ; Russell 

 square, Grosvenor square, with the statue of George II. on horseback, 

 &c. The principal buildings are St. James's Palace, a royal residence 

 since 1695, and Buckingham House, the residence of the queen, in St. 

 James's Park ; Westminster Abbey, where the sovereigns of England are 

 crowned and buried, a master-piece of Gothic architecture, 390 feet 



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