The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament, is the palace where both Houses of Parliament of the United Kingdom both houses of the UK Parliament, the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
The House of Commons is elected for a term of five years by general, equal election by secret ballot, while the House of Lords is unelected, consisting of two archbishops, 26 bishops of the Church of England ("spiritual lords") and 706 members of the peerage ("secular lords"). The ecclesiastical lords are present while they hold ecclesiastical offices, while secular members of the House of Lords serve for life."
The Palace of Westminster is located on the north bank of the River Thames in the very heart of London. The first royal palace was built on this site in the eleventh century. It is likely that the first king to settle here was Cnut the Great. Edward the Confessor founded Westminster Abbey here, but the buildings from that time. have not survived. The earliest surviving buildings were built during the reign of King William II. The palace was considered the main residence of the kings of England, and it was here that the King's Council, the forerunner of the English Parliament.
In 1530, King Henry VIII moved his official residence to Whitehall, and Westminster, though still regarded as the royal palace, was given to Parliament. the needs of Parliament. In the 18th century, the Parliament building was reconstructed and rebuilt in the neo-Gothic style by the architect James Wyatt.
In 1834, a fire broke out in the parliament building. The cause was a hot stove cooker in which wooden treasury tags were being burnt. The survivors were the Tower of the Jewels, part of St Stephen's Church, and at the cost of heroic efforts to save Westminster Hall (1097) from fire. A special Royal Commission was appointed to carry out reconstruction, which, after considering 97 designs, chose Charles Barry's Neo-Gothic style. Construction was largely completed in 1860. For his work, Charles Barry was awarded a knighthood.
The clock tower of the Palace of Westminster - Big Ben has become a hallmark of London, and the clock has been used by Londoners to tell time for centuries. The second tower of the palace is called Victoria and serves as the Parliamentary Archives. It holds three million documents, 8.8 kilometres of shelving, including the original Bill of Rights and Charles I's death sentence, as well as every Act of Parliament since 1497.
Tourists are practically not allowed into the parliament building. And while citizens United Kingdom can get inside by agreement with their Member of Parliament, only organised tours during the summer parliamentary recess. It is possible to try to get into the the building during MPs' office hours, but the number of visitors and petitioners are limited and there is no guarantee that you will be among them.
