Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
When Queen Elizabeth I brought peace to the land, London thrived as a capital of
theaters (the Globe and Rose), arts, and ideas. Then, just when things were going so well,
the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed the city, leaving London a blank slate.
Next head downstairs to stroll through a multimedia
“pleasure garden”
and take a
“Victorian walk”
through a re-creation of a London street, experiencing what it was like
to live in the world's greatest city. The interesting costume section helps humanize all the
history.
Two world wars and the car changed 20th-century London into a concrete jungle. But
it remained a cultural capital of elegance (see an Art Deco elevator from Selfridge's) and
a global trendsetter (Beatles-era memorabilia).
In the last room, you'll see the museum's prized possession—an example of the op-
ulence of rebuilt Georgian London. The
Lord Mayor's Coach,
a golden carriage pulled
by six white horses, looks as if it pranced right out of the pages of
Cinderella
. At the back
of this room, a touching memorial to the victims of the terrorist bombings of July 7, 2005,
weaves contemporary London into the tapestry of history.
