Saludos mis queridos amigos. Aquí estoy otra vez. Hoy vamos a mirar a Londres y a "la City". Os comentaré muchas cosas interesantes sobre este distrito financiero y veremos la diferencia entre "town y city". ¡Espero que os guste!
Information from Speak Up magazine.
LONDON - LIFE IN THE CITY
London is one of the most important cities in the world, but, technically, it isn't really a city! Most Londoners refer to it as a "town" because "City" only covers a small part of it.
THE SQUARE MILE
"The City" is also a term for London's financial district, the equivalent of New York's Wall Street.
It covers just 1.1 square miles or 2.9 square kilometres, whereas "Greater London" covers more than 600 square miles, or 1500 square kilometres.
Greater London consists of the City of Westminster, home of the Houses of Parliament and 11 other "Inner London" boroughs. This is in addition to 20 "Outer London" boroughs. This vast conglometation of population has a population of over 8 million.
THE ROMANS
The City, or financial district, isn't technically part of this. It is called The City because it corresponds to the old Roman city of Londinium, which was founded in 47 AD. This was a walled city and remained so until the 18th century.
The Tower of London, the first parts of which were built by William the Conqueror in the 11th century, was positioned at the wall's southeastern corner.
To enter the City you had to go through one of its gates, and their names live on in underground stations like Aldgate and Moorgate.
THE GREAT FIRE
The walled City of London was a crowded place and this could explain why royalty preferred to live in more peaceful surroundings to the west at Westminster and Whitehall. As a result, government, parliament and other important institutions developed outside the City. Its population density was also a problem. One night in 1666 a fire broke out in a bakery in Pudding Lane. It spread quickly and in less than three days and nights the entire City was destroyed. The Fire was in fact quite good for London. The rebuilding process produced such marvels as Sir Christopher Wren's St Paul's Cathedral.
TOWN OR CITY?
In Britain the distinction between a town and a city doesn't depend on population size but on the presence of a cathedral.
The population of the City of London is only 7,000 but because it has a cathedral (St Paul's) it is a city.
St David's, a small community in Wales, has a population of less than 2,000. Normally, this would make it a large village or a small town but because it has a cathedral (St David's), it is considered a city.
Greater London, on the other hand, has a population of over 8 million but, because it doesn't have a cathedral, it isn't technically a city!!!
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VOCABULARY
-WHEREAS: mientras que.
-SQUARE: cuadrado.
-INNER: central.
-BOROUGH: barrio.
-WALLED: amurallado.
-ROYALTY: realeza.
**IF YOU HAVEN'T VISITED LONDON YET, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
IT'S AN AMAZING "CITY" and it will like you very much!!!!
SEE YOU SOON!
HAVE A NICE DAY!!
