City of London
The City of London is where, around 2,000 years ago, the Romans founded their settlement. Surrounded by a wall for centuries, this was the historic city which grew into modern London, and the place marked by fire and plague.
Known as the Square Mile, the City of London has by far the lowest population of all 33 London boroughs, at around 8,000 people. But as a financial centre, home to banks, insurers and law firms, in the daytime that number swells to over 500,000.
An estimated 10 million visitors come each year to see sites like the St Paul’s Cathedral, the Bank of England, the Barbican Centre and, from 2026, London Museum.
There’s history around every corner here. Fleet Street is no longer the home of London’s newspapers. But reporters still gather around the Old Bailey, the City’s historic criminal court.
The Barbican estate is an icon of Brutalist architecture in the City of London.
Blogs-And-Stories
A Spanish view of the Great Fire of London
A 1666 report shows the fire made international news
Frost fairs: Festivities on a frozen River Thames
Trading, feasting and entertainment on ice
Building a Victorian underground railway
Henry Flather’s photos of the Metropolitan District Railway show a transport revolution in action
Inside St Paul’s Cathedral
Tiptoe through these tranquil photographs from the early 1900s
Fast food & feasts: Where did Tudor Londoners eat out?
Meat pies, alehouse snacks and boiled sheep’s feet sold on the streets
Occupy London: Looking back at the 2011 protests
In the wake of the global financial crisis, anti-capitalist protesters set up a camp outside St Paul’s Cathedral
What was the Cheapside Cross?
A monument to a queen – and a point of religious conflict
The Roman mosaic that thrilled London
The 2,000-year-old Bucklersbury Pavement drew thousands to see it after being discovered in 1869
Vikings in London
Two centuries of Viking raids and conquest left London a radically changed place
How did London celebrate VE Day on 8 May 1945?
Joy, relief and grief as the city marked ‘Victory in Europe’ near the end of the Second World War
Michaela Coel: A vital modern storyteller
The superstar behind Chewing Gum and I May Destroy You has spun unique tales from London life
Elizabeth Fry: Pioneering prison reformer
Fry’s injection of kindness transformed the prison experience for Victorian women
A walk through 1920s London
George Davison Reid’s years-long photography project shows us London between two world wars
Temple Bar: London’s last surviving gateway
Royal ceremonies, human heads – and a brief spell in Hertfordshire
