LONDON London is an exciting and pulsating metropolis of the new millennium, a melting pot of both people and culture and a fascinating city of diverse contrasts.The City Of London contains the Tower, an historic landmark with a remarkable history. A mighty mediaeval fortress with thirteen towers that throughout its nine hundred years has served many functions and from the Middle Ages was a heavily fortified prison.After the medieval St. Paul`s Cathedral was destroyed by a devastating fire in 1666, Christopher Wren was ordered to re-build it with a dome. During the thirty-six years of its construction its design was frequently altered until finally a wonderful masterpiece of church architecture was created.The Monument is the city's tallest freestanding stone column and a reminder of the Great Fire Of London that destroyed four fifths of the city. In four days and nights more than thirteen thousand buildings were destroyed and the Monument was built on the site of the bakery in which the fire began.Since the reign of Queen Victoria, Buckingham Palace has served as London's royal residence. A garden of mulberry trees once grew on the site of today's palace and the Duke Of Buckingham subsequently added a simple brick built residence. Around sixty years later George II purchased the site for his wife and George IV eventually began to design an extensive palace complex.The highlight of any holiday in London must be the largest Ferris wheel in the world, the London Eye. Situated on the banks of the Thames it rises high into the sky opposite the Houses Of Parliament and Big Ben. The former centre of the largest empire in the world, London is still a city of superlatives that attracts millions of visitors each year. Exciting both day and night, London is a modern city with age old traditions and a long and colourful history.