Until Medieval times it was very hard to cross the river Thames. It was only possible by using a ferry or a rickety wooden bridge. Fortunately it all changed in 1176. Due to the fact that all of the wooden bridges were destroyed by the fire, Henry II bade to build a pernament stone crossing. It took 33 years to built the bridge, but with all repairs and remodellings it was nearly 600 years!
The finished bridge was very impressive. It was 275 m long and was supported on 20 arches. But the most suprising is that the London Bridge featured a drawbridge, a chapel, houses, shops, gates and even a waterwheel and a mill. It seems unbelievable that all of that was situated in the bridge. What is quite ironic, I think is that building the London Bridge didn't make crossing the Thames much quicker, because the buildings inside took a lot of space, making the actual rode very narrow. Crossing could take almost an hour!
However the London Bridge wasn't uncredited during tragic fires, when people had to jump from the bridge straight into the water. Some parts of the Bridge also collapsed on several occassions. One of them will be always remebered in a popular rhyme : "London Bridge is falling down".
The London Bridge we can cross now was opened by Queen Elisabeth II in 1973.
Although the majority of the people mixes London Bridge up with Tower Bridge I think it is a very interesting place to visit and know its history better while being in London.
Interesting ... as there is nothing very special or particularly beautiful about the London Bridge today.
OdpowiedzUsuńIn the past, with all the buildings it must have looked a lot like Ponte Vecchio in Florence or the Rialto Bridge in Venice.The other two still stand in their original form while the London Bridge looks quite modern.