What is it?

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What is it?
Westminster Palace
The Houses of Parliament
a symbol of London
the oldest in the world
the administrative centre of the kingdom
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Where is Westminster Palace situated?

• The New Palace of Westminster the correct name
  of the Houses of Parliament stands on the
  left/west bank of the River Thames close to the
  historic Westminster Abbey.
• It is located between the
• Westminter and Lambeth
• Bridges, south of Trafalgar
• Square.

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Is the building old?

• The building of the Houses of Parliament which is
  in the Gothic style is not old it was built in
  the middle of the last century instead of the
  ancient Houses of Parliament (destroyed by fire).

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What does it look like?

• Westminster Palace is a massive building in the
  Perpendicular ("pKpqn'dIkjUlq ?????????????)
  Gothic style but with symmetrical proportions.

• It is a very large building, 872 ft (265 m)
  long it covers an area of 8 acres (3.2
  hectares).

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1 foot 30.5 cm
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Westminster Palace, here viewed from the London
Eye.
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The Union Flag is flying from the Victoria Tower,
indicating that Parliament is sitting.
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The outside appearance

• The outside appearance of the Houses of
  Parliament is known throughout the world with
  their soaring 'sLrIN (??????? ?????) spires
  'spaIqz (?????) and battlements (????????
  ?????).
• The design reflects the Palaces majestic
  history, with ornate L'neIt (?????? ??????????)
  carvings (???????), turrets 'tArIts (???????)
  and tremendous towers.

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Can you see any symbols on the walls of
the Houses of Parliament?
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Two towers

• There are two towers there the Clock Tower with
  the bell Big Ben (96 m high) in it, and the
  Victoria Tower (98 m high) at the other end from
  the Clock Tower,
• When Parliament sits, the flag flies over the
  Victoria Tower by day and a light in the Clock
  Tower burns above Big Ben at night.

which holds the Parliamentary Archives.

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The Clock Tower

• The Clock Tower, completed in 1858, is so well
  known that it has become a symbol of the city of
  London, an emblem of parliamentary democracy.
• It stands impressively over the Houses of
  Parliament.
• The clock stopped on three occasions during the
  war, the last time in January 1945 when the clock
  mechanism froze.

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Big Ben

• The height of the bell is 2 m, its diameter is
  about 3 m.
• The chimes imitate those of St Marys Church in
  Cambridge based on an aria in Handels Messiah.
• (??? ??? ? ?????????? ??? ?????? ?????????
  ???????? ???????? ???????? ????????? ????
  ?????? ???? ??? ??????? ?????? ????, ? ???? ???
  ?? ???? ?????? ??????????.)

• In fact Big Ben is the name of the massive
  13.5-ton bell inside the tower that rings out the
  hour across the city of London.
• This bell was cast and pulled to Westminster by a
  wagon team of 16 (!) horses.

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The Clock Tower

• Four faces of the clock are made of hoIIow
  'hOlqu (?????) copper (????).
• (?????????? ??? ???? ??????? ?? ??? 4 ???????
  ?????. ??????? ??? ?? ?????????????? ?????,
  ??????? ??????? ?????? ?? ??????, ? ????????
  ??????? ?? ??????? ?????).

The inside of the face
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The Clock Tower

• The clocks 4 faces are each 23 ft (7 m) in
  diameter.
• The minute hand is 14 ft (4.2 m) long, and the
  hour hand is 9ft (2.7 m) long, with 2 ft (60 cm)
  high figures.
• At the foot of every face there is a Latin
  sentence Domine salvam fac Reginam nostram
  Victoriam Primam (God save our Queen Victoria
  I).

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1 foot 30.5 cm
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The Clock Tower
Every day, when people in the UK and
overseas switch on their radio to listen to BBC
radio news, they can hear one of the most famous
sounds in London chimes of Big Ben on the Houses
of Parliament.
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Inside the Palace

• The Palace of Westminster includes over 1,100
  rooms, 100 staircases and 4.8 km of passageways.
• The building includes four floors.
• The ground floor includes offices, dining
  rooms and bars.

• The first (principal) floor houses the
  main rooms of the Palace, including the Chambers
  (The House of Lords and The House of Commons),
  the lobbies and the libraries.
• The top-two floors are used for
  committee rooms and offices.

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The plan of which floor is it?
It is the plan of the first (principal) floor.
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It is the seat of the Parliament of the United
Kingdom.
The House of Commons
The House of Lords
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Le Parlement de Londres, Claude Monet, 1903,
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

• The Palace of Westminster has been a part of a
  UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.

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There is no casual access to the interior, but it
may be seen in a number of ways

• Viewing debates from the public galleries of the
  House of Commons or the House of Lords It is
  possible to queue for admission on the day, but
  capacity is limited and there is no guarantee of
  admission. Only a very small part of the Palace's
  interior may be seen. Either House may exclude
  "strangers" if it desires to sit in private.
• Tours during Parliamentary sessions Overseas
  visitors may only tour Parliament during the
  summer recess.
• Summer opening tours are available during a
  two-month period during the summer when
  Parliament is not sitting. These tours are open
  to both UK residents and overseas visitors.
• Television Viewing live broadcasts of
  Parliamentary sessions can be viewed on BBC
  Parliament recorded footage is shown when
  Parliament is not in session. The sessions are
  also occasionally rebroadcast in the United
  States via C-SPAN.
• Touring the Clock Tower Currently, only UK
  Residents can tour the Clock Tower, by arranging
  a tour through their local MP.

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How to get to Westminster Palace

• To get to Westminster Palace You can take the
  tube, exiting at Westminster or St. James Park
  stations. The Waterloo train station is just
  across the Themes from Westminster palace.

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Sources of Information

• 1. ?????????? ???? ??????? ??? 10-11 ???????
  ????????????????-??? ??????????/ ???????? ?.?. ?
  ??. ?. ???????????, 2003.
• 2. ?????? Speak Out.
• 3. Robert Wilson The Houses of Parliament
  Great Britain Jarrold Publishing, 1995.
• 4. http//www.parliament.uk
• 5. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_GalleryOthe
  r_rooms