The Tower of London

I got up at 10 am, following a kind of Spanish schedule. Yesterday was a sunny morning, not usual in this month and I decided to take my chance to go to see one of the most famous monuments here, “The Tower of London”. I had been to London only once for one weekend before my move in July. Since then I had kept in my mind the image of the Tower and the Bridge Tower as the most impressive sight of London. I think it is because of my passion for middle ages and because of my short visit too as London has many interesting and impressive places to see. The thing is that I just had time only to see them from Southbank. It was almost 10 years ago. And yesterday I could settle my debt.

The first thing you feel when you go into it is “what a lot of things must have happened here during the last 1000 years!” I was watching TV some weeks ago the film “Elisabeth the Queen” with some scenes when she was put as a prisoner there. I could imagine her being brought to the Tower when I stopped at the Traitors Gate, on the waterfront, having been ferried down the Thames from the courts at Westminster Hall. And due to its legend as a dark place to keep prisoners and because of their executions, is how the Tower became famous. I was lucky to find very soon a “Beefeater” and I joined his group to listen to their explanations. The tour started at the Bloody Tower with the terrible murder of the only 12 years old Edward V and his 10-year-old brother, Richard that were accommodated “for their own safety”. Another famous visitor was Walter Ralegh who spent three separate periods there. He was another of the main roles done in the film.

Already, by myself I entered the Beauchamp Tower where the wealthiest of prisoners were placed. Here you can read some graffiti like a sample of what they had in mind before their more than possible death. More graffiti can be seen at the “Lanthorn Tower”. And at the Wakefield you can have a look at some instrument of torture. You really feel inside of the atmosphere of that time and in the shoes of those people that suffered so much here.

But London Tower that started as a watchtower built by William the Conqueror to keep an eye on the City, and then became also a residential royal palace and the place chosen to keep the Crown Jewels. An impressive exhibition is possible to visit at the Waterrloo Barracks, built to the north of the White Tower during the Duke of Wellington’s term since 1327. Take your time to admire the three largest cut diamonds in the world: “First Star of Africa”, “Second Star of Africa” and the Koh-i-Noor.

In the middle of the complex you can find the most important building, the White Tower, the only one that comes from the Middle Ages. With a Norman style, you can realize how could Royal life be inside those walls in the medieaval ages and after. A fireplace called my attention original from that age. Now the building is used as an armoury and you will feel a little sad if you are Spanish watching the exhibition “The Spanish Army” that shows some of the arms captured during the battle agaisnt the Spanish Armada, the failure attempt to invade England. I really enjoyed watching some arms like the classical “Spanish pica” I could imagine how hard must be at that time to be involved in a battle handling that kind of equipment…

When I got out of the building the sun has been replaced by a big cloud that covered us and the surrounds. I come out and crossed the Tower Bridge. On the other side I could see the imposing presence of the Tower. Even, as Monet said, it turn out more impressive:

“I adore London, it is a mass, an ensemble, and it is so simple. What I like most of all in London is the fog. How could English painters of the nineteenth century have painted its houses brick by brick? Those fellows painted bricks that they didn't see, that they couldn't see... I so love London! But I only like it in the winter... It is the fog that gives it its marvellous breadth. Its regular, massive blocks become grandiose in this mysterious cloak."(Monet, quoted in J. House, ""Monet's London: Artists' Reflections on the Thames" 1859-1914)