The British capital London is a legendary place. We’ll talk about his legends now. 
1. This may be the strangest tomb in London 
This is probably the strangest tomb in London. Richard Burton's crypt is shaped like a Bedouin tent. It was designed around 1890 by Burton's wife, Isabel. Climb the back stairs and you can look inside to see the coffins of Richard Burton and his wife. Isabelle chose this design as a tribute to her husband. He was an explorer and writer who traveled widely in Asia, Africa and America. She idolized him and his work, writing his biography despite suffering from cancer. She died in 1896, but they forever lie side by side inside the tent, as if traveling around the globe together.
2. One parking lot has a Roman wall that's 1,800 years old. 
London was founded by the Romans around 2,000 years ago and evidence of this can be seen throughout the city, including in the car park where there is part of a wall from around 200 AD.
3. In the Church of St Magnus Martyr at London Bridge there is a model of medieval London made by a policeman 
If you go to this Church of St Magnus the Martyr, you will see what London Bridge looked like in medieval London. Old London Bridge was completed in 1209 and lasted until the 1830s. But what is shown here dates back to the mid-1400s. The model was built in the 1980s by David Ajit, a retired police officer.
4.The name Turnagain Lane comes from the river that blocked the path 
This is Farringdon Street and although it is not visible today, there is a river running underneath it. This is one of London's "lost rivers". But come to this corner and you can see her. It still flows underground. The reason for the strange name of the street (translated as “Turn again”) is that the river blocked the residents’ path, and they had to take a detour all the time.
5. This building in the City of London was made triangular so as not to block the view. 
Why is this building in the City of London so oddly shaped? The fact is that when a tall extension was built to it in 1933, the public made a fuss because it partially blocked the view of St Paul's Cathedral from the Thames. The City of London responded with a policy known as St Paul's Heights. As a result, local authorities decided to rebuild the building, giving it a shape so that the view of the cathedral would be preserved.
6. This is one of the saddest monuments in London 
On Marchmont Street, look under your feet to see the saddest monuments in London. A short walk away is Coram Fields Hospital, opened in 1741 by Thomas Coram. It was a place where desperate mothers could leave babies they could not care for. The gazebo with niche is still in place. Mothers often left tags with their babies so they could be identified when they grew up, but of the more than 18,000 babies accepted, only 154 were returned. Commemorative plaques were made by John Aldous in 2006. Although the Foundling Hospital closed in the 1950s, you can visit the local museum to tell its history.
7.Metro to Tower 
This stone tower is the entrance to the so-called Tower Underground, built in the 1920s. It was created in 1868, and for a small fee you could get into a carriage and, by pulling ropes by workers, ride under the Thames. But due to one fatal accident, the tunnel was made pedestrian. Then, when Tower Bridge opened and became free, the tunnel closed forever. Nowadays it is used only for water supply and communication cables.
8.These signs prohibit using the wall as a urinal. 
There are many such signs in London. In the 19th century, they say, they were very relevant.
9.Tower Bridge is a chimney 
They say Tower Bridge is a chimney pretending to be a lamppost. It used to burn coal until the Clean Air Act of 1956 banned it. This ensured warmth in the guard room under the bridge.
10.Documents are safe 
The Victoria Tower at the Houses of Parliament houses the parliamentary archives. It contains 64,000 Acts of Parliament dating back to 1497. Each one is a handwritten parchment scroll that either creates a new law or amends an existing one. Until now, every act receives royal assent and the monarch signs the law. You can find signatures of kings and queens here, starting with Elizabeth I.
11.Big Ben used to be decorated in blue 
Now the parts on the Big Ben tower clock are black. The original clock tower was opened in 1859 and was designed by Charles Barry. During restoration in 2017, experts from the University of Lincoln examined 160-year-old layers of paint and discovered that the Roman numeral hands were originally blue. The color black was chosen in the 1930s to hide the effect of London's dirty air. So next time you're nearby, look up to admire the details of the Prussian blue. Yes, Big Ben is the nickname for the bell inside the tower. And the name of the clock tower is actually Elizabeth Tower.
12.This sign is not associated with Coco Chanel 
Many people say that every lamppost around Westminster has a Coco Chanel symbol on it. In fact, in the 1920s, the fabulously wealthy 2nd Duke of Westminster, who owned lands in Mayfair and Belgravia, fell madly in love with Coco Chanel. When they were in London, the couple lived at Bourdon House on Davies Street. They were together for about ten years, but never got married. So is this just a lovely romantic gesture? Unfortunately no. Westminster Council says the letters "cc" stand for "city couincil" and were only installed in the 1950s.
13. Unexpected gateway 
The photo shows one of the last surviving London sluice gates. Why far from the river? Because the Thames has moved. It was built around 1626 and served as the river entrance to York House, the stately palace of the Dukes of Buckingham. It was demolished in the 1670s, with only the gateway remaining. It now stands about 100 meters from the Thames as a reminder of a time when the river was much wider.
14.You can walk under the Thames 
You can walk under the Thames! The Greenwich Foot Tunnel was built in 1902 to transport workers on the London docks. It is open 24 hours a day.
15.Building on the site of the Shakespeare Theater 
More than 1 million people visit Shakespeare's Globe Theater every year. But this, of course, is not the original. The theater space opened in 1997 and is a recreation of the Globe, built on Bankside in 1599. The project began in the 1970s, when Sam Wanamaker and his team decided to accurately recreate the Globe. The roof was made from English oak beams and 12,000 hand-carved wooden pegs: it is the only timber roof in London. But the rest didn't work out so well. The real remains of the Globe were discovered in 1989, after work began, more than 200 meters from the original construction site.
16. Abandoned station 
Most people passing here have no idea that an abandoned station is hiding in plain sight. This is the ghost station of Mark Lane, and if you look at the corner of the building you can almost make out the faded sign "Mark Lane Station Entrance". In 1882, the first station opened here at the Tower of London. But two years later, a new station was built nearby: as it turned out, this one was designed too small and could not accommodate the flow of passengers.
17.On foot underground 
Want to walk through the underground tunnels of London? Then take a tour of the mail tunnels! From 1927 to 2003, tiny carriages filled with London mail zipped 10 kilometers across London, 25 meters underground. And since 2017, when the Postal Museum opened, you can ride along them in postal cars. You can also walk through the tunnels yourself, appreciate this amazing infrastructure and see the details up close.
18. River at the station 
A huge chimney can be seen under the ceiling of Sloane Square Station. One of London's "lost" rivers, the River Westbourne, flows through it. It originates in Hampstead and flows through Paddington and Hyde Park. It went into the pipes in the 19th century, but still flows into the Thames at the Royal Chelsea Hospital.
19.Last line of defense 
This strange, squat structure can be seen next to Putney Bridge tube station. This is a pillbox. These pillboxes were built in 1940 as part of the last line of defense in the event of a German invasion of Britain. Now, although thousands of such buildings remain throughout Britain, there are very few of them in London. You can, however, find a few in the park along the Thames at Woolwich.
20.Royal sign 
Such emblems can be seen on commercial buildings in London. This is a Royal Warrant - the royal seal of approval for goods or services. Merchants sought royal approval for business as early as 1155, when King Henry II granted a royal warrant to a company of weavers. And in 1840 there were already so many warrant holders that they founded the Association of Royal Warrant Holders. Today the warrant can be issued by King Charles. To get it, you need to apply, but your company must meet certain conditions, such as supplying the royal court for at least five years. However, bankers, veterinarians, lawyers, newspapers and party organizers are not eligible to apply. Among the more than 800 royal warrant holders are shirtmakers Turnbull & Asser, booksellers Hatchard, perfumers Floris and cheese merchants Paxton and Whitfield.
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