One of the most famous sights of the British capital is the area of ​​Piccadilly Circus.

The fact that the word «circus» may be misleading, inspired by association with the circus. In fact, the word in England indicate circular roundabouts designed to combine several streets, without prejudice to vehicular traffic.

The area was designed by architect John Nash in 1812 as part of the redevelopment area of ​​Regent Street. Its name she got from the streets of Piccadilly, one of the streets, ending in this area. In turn, the history of this unusual street name itself goes back to the XVII century. Until that time, street called the Portuguese, but in 1612, Robert Baker, bought land here and built a mansion. Baker was a well known figure in London at the time - he earned a lot of money by selling very fashionable stiff collars with scalloped edges, contracting the edges of lace. Consequently, the house became known as an enterprising merchant Piccadilly Hall, sonorous name gradually moved and the street.

The most attractive from a visual perspective on the area is, of course, colorful billboards that look particularly impressive in the evening and night. The area of ​​brightly lit neon lights, so that, willy-nilly suggest themselves with associations of New York.

The main symbol of the area and one of the major symbols of London is a fountain, crowning a statue of a winged creature with a bow and arrow in hand. The story goes that this sculpture was originally symbolized by an angel of mercy, and was erected in 1892 in honor of the Earl of Shaftesbury, who actively opposed the use of child labor, and strongly opposed such exploitation. However, for Londoners, this cautionary tale has long weathered out of consciousness, and the figure at the top of the fountain has become a Cupid.

Also in Piccadilly Circus you can see several notable buildings. For example, here is one of London's most prestigious theaters, Criterion theatre (one of the few buildings in this part of the city, completely free of advertising signs). In addition, a number of buildings are old music hall, one of which is currently in the local branch museum Madame Tussauds, and the second set of busy shops, entertainment venues, as well as a museum of Guinness.