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Friday 2 November 2018

Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square is a large pedestrian square in central London, bounded on three sides by roads

The square celebrates the Battle of Trafalgar and contains Nelson's Column, a statue of Lord Horatio Nelson mounted on a tall column, with four statues of lions around it. It was opened to the public on May 1, 1844. 

Trafalgar Square Pixiebay

From the 13th to 18th century, Trafalgar Square was the site of the Royal Stables or King's Mews. 

Trafalgar Square was built between 1820 and 1845 as part of a redevelopment of the Charing Cross area. It was going to be called King William IV's Square before the surveyor and architect George Ledwell Taylor suggested Trafalgar.

A painting by James Pollard showing the square before the erection of Nelson's Column

Nelson's Column was erected in 1843 and cost £46,000. It is a copy of a column in the Temple of Mars at Rome with four bronze reliefs depicting the Battle of Cape St Vincent, Battle of Nice, Battle of Copenhagen and the admiral's death at Trafalgar.

The four lions were sculpted by Sir Edwin Landseer, who was supplied with a dead lion from London Zoo as a model. 

It took Landseer nine years from receiving the £17,000 commission, to install all four lions. By this stage, some of the corpse had begun to rot, which is said to be why its paws resemble those of a cat.

All four lions are not identical — each has a different face and mane.

Pixiebay

In 1940 the Nazi SS developed secret plans to transfer Nelson's Column to Berlin, after their planned German invasion. 

A Christmas tree has been donated to Trafalgar Square by Norway since 1947 and is erected for twelve days before and after Christmas Day.

A survey in 2006 revealed that Nelson's Column is 169ft 3in (51.6m) high, which was 14ft 6in (4.4m) shorter than had previously been thought. 

National Heroes Square in Bridgetown, Barbados, was originally named Trafalgar Square in 1813, decades before the statue and square of the same name and fame in London. It was renamed in 1999 to commemorate national heroes of Barbados.

Source Daily Express 

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