The Monument
The Monument to the Great Fire of London is popularly known as The Monument (Monument) and is located in the area called City of London, very close to the London Bridge that, we clarify, is not the Tower Bridge as many travelers confuse.
The Monument: history and appearance
The Great Fire of London of the year 1666 began only 61 meters from where this monument is located, which marks, along with the Golden Man of Pye Corner, the limits to which the fire spread. More specifically, the fire started in the bakery of Thomas Farynor, a baker who had a small oversight that set off the alarms.
The Monument is a Doric columba that reaches up to 61 meters in height, precisely because of what we mentioned earlier, and ends with a golden urn representing the fire. It was built between 1671 and 1677.
In the lower part of the monument is the sculpture of Caius Gabriel Cibber in which King Carlos II and his brother appear. The different reliefs represent the destruction of that area of ​​the city that was affected by the biggest fire in the history of London.
Visits to The Monument
The visit to the monument consists of the entrance to the interior of the column through which you ascend to the upper area through 311 steps of a super narrow staircase shaped like a snail. Leaving aside the fact that there are 311 steps and that many people can not have the strength and characteristics necessary to climb them, they are very narrow. This should be taken into account for people with more dimensions or exaggerated overweight because it can be very uncomfortable for them.
As a curiosity we will highlight that at the top of the monument, some bars had to be installed due to the suicides that took place from there between 1788 and 1842.
If you decide to climb the stairs and get to the top you will get wonderful views of the River Thames and the Tower Bridge in the distance. You can take some incredible pictures from up there only compared to those that are obtained from the famous CocaCola London Eye.
Location, timetables and prices
The Monument is located right next to the metro station and the street with the same name.
The hours to visit the interior of the monument go from 9.30 in the morning until 6 in the afternoon.
Regarding the prices of visit, you will have to pay 3 pounds to access if you are an adult, 2 pounds if you are a student and you will pass free if you carry the London Pass.
If you decide to visit The Monument you can take advantage of it to complement it with the visit to the HMS Belfast floating museum, the City Hall and the Tower of London, all of them less than 800 meters away.
