Trafalgar Square
If you are visiting London then you are defiantly not going to miss out on
visiting the Trafalgar Square. In fact no one visiting London would ever miss
out on visiting the Trafalgar Square. This is because the Trafalgar Square is
the very heart of London. Form the time that this square has been formed it has
been the main center of London for demonstrations, protests, marches, rallies,
festivities, carnivals and many other such activities. All this makes the
Trafalgar Square an emotional part of London and also can be called the heart
and soul of London. In fact the Trafalgar Square is one of the main tourist
attractions of London with many things to see and do there.
The main attraction of the Trafalgar Square is the Nelson’s column. The column
stands erect in the center of the square with the four lions guarding the
column. There are many statues and sculptures on the square that display
contemporary art and the changing trends in art. For your visit in London you
can spend a whole day in the Trafalgar Square looking at all the tourist
attractions that are present there. The site is a famous place for political
demonstrations and there have been several rallies and marches that have taken
in this place including the most recent ones when the London bombings had
occurred. The name is taken to commemorate the battle of Trafalgar after which
the square was named. The closet tube station at the Trafalgar Square which is
also one of the most important stations in London is the Charing Cross station.
This is one of the busiest stations in London and also one of the most well
connected stations in the city. No matter which part of London you reside in,
you can easily access the Trafalgar Square either through the station or
through bus.
The national gallery is located in the Trafalgar Square. This is also another
place of tourist attraction. One of the most favorite activities of tourists
while at the Trafalgar Square was to feed the pigeons there. However this was
greatly frowned upon by the authorities. The reason for this was because there
used to be a gathering of as many as 34000 pigeons in the square at one point
of time. The droppings from these pigeons looked nasty and destroyed the nearby
buildings and architecture. Therefore feeding of the pigeons was greatly banned
at the Trafalgar Square. There was another reason for this. Many people were
caught capturing these pigeons. The pigeons that were captured were sold to
cheap restaurants and these would end up in the human food chain. Therefore to
stop such illegal activities it was declared by the mayor that selling of bird
seed at the square was deemed illegal and so was the feeding of the pigeons.
After the ban on bird seeds there were many measures taken to stop the pigeons
to flock on the Trafalgar Square which included use of trained falcons and use
of chemical repellants. Even without the pigeons the Trafalgar Square is a
historic place that as a tourist you must visit in while in London.