Tower of London

Last weekend I went with a couple friends to the Tower of London, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city, but also one of the oldest and most famous structures here as well. Built and used by Kings Henry III and Edward II in the 13th century, the Tower certainly has a long and fascinating history.

We spent the majority of our visit exploring the numerous towers and rooms on the site and learning about the different events that took place within the castle walls. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but there was actually a lot of violence associated with the Tower of London and the various figures who resided in it. Some of the famous incidents that occurred included the execution of Anne Boleyn, the murder of the two princes (William and Edward I think?), and countless prisoners held for crimes ranging from adultery, to religious disobedience, to simply ticking off the King.

Although some of these prisoners led fairly comfortable lives while refined to the castle, others did not fair so well. While taking a tour at the end, it was explained that underneath the White Tower in the center of the castle was essentially a torture chamber. The tour guide proceeded to tell us – in gruesome detail – about the various ways in which prisoners were tortured and executed.

Above is a picture of the White Tower, looking exceptionally white with the protective covering around it at the moment. Periodically, they have to essentially scrub the entire tower of all the "pollution" particles that accumulate on the walls to keep them from deteriorating. This is evidently a long process, because the tower has been covered like every time I've passed it, at least as long as I've been here.

One of my favorite parts of the tour was the story of the ravens at the Tower of London. According to a tale, ravens have always lived at the castle, but during the 17th century the astronomers who resided at the Tower of London complained to the king that they were messing on their equipment. King Charles II was about to order the extermination of the ravens, when he was advised by someone that if the ravens left, the White Tower would crumble.

Being the superstitious man he was, the King immediately ordered that 6 ravens should be kept at the castle at all times. And now 400 years later, the tradition still holds strong (the English really are set in their ways!). It was fun to see the ravens there, especially after hearing the legend.

The man in the cage with the raven in the picture I'm guessing is one of the caretakers or "Raven Masters" who works with the birds. He was sitting in there with it for a long time scratching its head -- it was quite touching. :-)

I quite enjoyed the Tower of London, even though it was a little touristy. It’s one of those places you just have to see when you come to the city, and was definitely worth the afternoon trip.