Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

The old Palace of Westminster burned down in 1834, and Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin built the present Gothic Revival palace, with over a thousand rooms. Only Westminster Hall, from 1097, with its 14th-century oak hammerbeam roof, survived from the medieval palace.

Big Ben is really the great bell; the tower has been called the Elizabeth Tower since 2012 and was restored between 2017 and 2022. Inside sit the House of Commons and the House of Lords.