Travel Reference
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LEICESTER SQUARE
Leicester Square. MAP
By night, when the big cinemas and nightclubs are doing brisk business and the buskers are
entertaining passers-by, Leicester Square is one of the most crowded places in London; on a
Friday or Saturday night, it can seem as if half the youth of the city's suburbs have congreg-
ated here to get drunk, supplemented by a vast number of tourists. As a result, most London-
ers avoid the place unless they're heading for one of the cinemas. It wasn't until the mid-
nineteenth century that the square began to emerge as an entertainment zone, with accom-
modation houses (for prostitutes and their clients) and music halls. These included the gran-
diose Empire , now a cinema that's a favourite for big red-carpet premieres, and a couple of
blocks east the Hippodrome - designed by Frank Matcham in 1900 - which is now the
UK's biggest casino. Purpose-built movie houses moved in during the 1930s - a golden age
evoked by the sleek black lines of the Odeon on the east side - and maintain their grip on
the area.
 
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