The Palace of Westminster, seat of the British Parliament, is one of the most recognisable buildings in the world. With its neo-Gothic facade almost three hundred metres long on the Thames and the clock tower everyone calls Big Ben, it is the heart of Europe's oldest parliamentary democracy and, since 1987, a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with Westminster Abbey and St Margaret's Church.
From royal palace to Parliament
Westminster was the main residence of the kings of England from the 11th century until 1512, when a fire led Henry VIII to move to Whitehall. Since then the palace has housed the two Houses of Parliament. What survives of the medieval building is above all Westminster Hall, built in 1097 under William II, with a magnificent 14th-century oak hammerbeam roof: historic trials such as those of Thomas More and Charles I took place here, and monarchs lie in state here before state funerals. In 1605 Guy Fawkes's Gunpowder Plot tried to blow up the palace during the opening of Parliament: to this day the cellars are searched before every State Opening.
In 1834 a fire devastated almost the entire complex. The new palace was designed by Charles Barry, with interiors and decoration by Augustus Pugin, and built between 1840 and 1870: it has about 1,100 rooms, a hundred staircases and five kilometres of corridors.
Big Ben and the Elizabeth Tower
The name Big Ben actually refers to the great bell, weighing over 13 tonnes, cast in 1858. The tower, 96 metres high, was called the Clock Tower and was renamed the Elizabeth Tower in 2012 for Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. Between 2017 and 2022 it underwent a major restoration that returned the dials and decoration to their original colours, including the Prussian blue of the hands. Its chimes, broadcast by the BBC, ring in the British New Year.
The two Houses
- The House of Commons, with its green benches, seats the 650 elected MPs; government and opposition sit facing each other, separated by two lines said by tradition to be two sword-lengths apart.
- The House of Lords, with its red benches and gilded throne, is the unelected upper chamber, made up of life peers, Church of England bishops and, until the current reform, some hereditary peers.
On how the institutions work see the executive and legislature and the British monarchy.
How to visit
- Guided tours: held on most Saturdays and during parliamentary recesses, especially in summer, with paid tickets available online. Audio guides are available in several languages.
- Debates: anyone can watch sittings free of charge from the public galleries, queuing at the Cromwell Green entrance.
- The tower: climbing the Elizabeth Tower is reserved for UK residents.
The nearest station is Westminster (Jubilee, District and Circle lines). The best view of the palace is from Westminster Bridge or the opposite bank, near the London Eye. See also what to see in London and the London guide.