The City of London lies at the very heart of the English capital’s metropolis, surrounded by the 32 boroughs that make up London as a whole. It has long been its main business and financial hub, but also includes many of London’s most impressive sights.

The City of London hugs the northern banks of the River Thames, with its high-rise offices housing the headquarters of international banking and insurance companies, as well as the London Stock Exchange. To the north visitors will find the influential arts and cultural institution of the Barbican Centre, renowned for its distinctive Brutalist architecture and home to both the London and BBC Symphony Orchestras, together with the Royal Shakespeare Company. The Museum of London is also found within the City, documenting its history from prehistoric to modern times, as well as the early 15th century Guildhall, renowned for its statues of the legendary giants, Gog and Magog. The historic Smithfield Meat Market which dates to the mid 19th century is also of note, while the iconic spires and dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral dominate Ludgate Hill to the south. It was designed in an English Baroque style by acclaimed architect Christopher Wren and is where Queen Victoria’s Jubilee celebrations, as well as Winston Churchill’s funeral, were held. In the far west of the City stands the 12th century Temple Church, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters, as well as the elaborate Victorian Royal Courts of Justice and the Hunterian Museum, dedicated to the history of medicine and surgery.

The City of London is connected by eight of the London Underground’s eleven lines, with stations dotted around the city, together with two Docklands Light Railway stations at Bank and Tower Gateway. Long-distance trains depart from Liverpool Street, Fenchurch Street and Cannon Street stations, while Thameslink services connect to Gatwick and Luton airports.

The City of London is believed to have been founded as Londinium before the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD and went on to become its largest settlement by the end of the 1st century. It suffered heavy attacks from Picts, Scots and Saxon raiders during the 3rd and 4th centuries and was left largely abandoned. Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, was responsible for initiating the resettlement of its Roman walled area near the end of the 9th century and renamed it Lundenburh, or “London Fort”.