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Palace

Palace of Westminster

England · 11th century

Founded
1097
Style
Perpendicular Gothic
Architect
Augustus Pugin, Charles Barry, Jr.
Heritage status
Grade I listed building
Location
City of Westminster
Coordinates
51.49944°, -0.12417°
Open on the map →Wikipedia ↗
Palace of Westminster in England
Photo: Terry Ott from Washington, DC Metro Area, United States of America · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is colloquially known as the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative chambers which occupy the building. The palace is one of the centres of political life in the United Kingdom; "Westminster" has become a metonym for the UK Parliament and the British Government, and the Westminster system of government commemorates the name of the palace. The Elizabeth Tower of the palace houses the bell nicknamed Big Ben and is a landmark of London and the United Kingdom in general. The palace has been a Grade I listed building since 1970 and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.

The building was originally constructed in the eleventh century as a royal palace and was the primary residence of the kings of England until 1512, when a fire destroyed the royal apartments. The monarch moved to the adjacent Palace of Whitehall, but the remainder of the palace continued to serve as the home of the Parliament of England, which had met there since the 13th century. In 1834 a second, larger fire destroyed the majority of the palace, but the twelfth century Westminster Hall was saved and incorporated into the replacement building.

The competition to design the new palace was won by the architect Charles Barry, who chose a Gothic Revival style for the building. Construction started in 1840 and lasted for 30 years, suffering delays, cost overruns, and the deaths of Barry and his assistant, Augustus Pugin. This new palace is notable for its ornate decoration, and contributed to the proliferation of Gothic Revival architecture in other places. The palace contains chambers for the House of Commons, House of Lords, and the monarch, and has a floor area of 1,210,680 ft2 (112,476 m2).

Text adapted from “Palace of Westminster” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Palace of Westminster ranks #15 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #5 of the 360 mapped in England. Founded 1097, it is older than 86% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 439 atlas entries founded in the 11th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 87,642 times in the last 60 days, more than 99% of the atlas. 23 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is London, 1 km away. See how England compares in the castle statistics.

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