London is among the largest cities in the world. And it is definitely among those that can offer you the most in terms of culture and entertainment. Here we have collected just a small portion of the interesting facts about the London cultural scene:
- There are 867 art galleries in London that are currently functioning. Three of them are in the top 10 list of the best art galleries in the world.
- London is the city with the probably the highest concentration of UNESCO heritage sites – Tower of London, Maritime Greenwich, Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey, Saint Margaret’s Church and Kew’s Royal Botanic Gardens are all protected by the organization.
- There is no other city in the world that has more languages spoken on its territory than London – they are as many as 300.
- London is the greenest city of its size in the world – 40% of the territory of the capital is covered by publically accessible parklands and gardens. This, combined with the strict waste disposal policies of most local councils, make London also one of the most environment responsible metropolises in the world.
- If you love music, London is the place for you with its over 300 venues and 17 000 performances on an annual basis.
- The number of museums in London is 170. 11 of them have the status of a National Museum.
- The first ever Punch and Judy performance was at Covent Garden on 9 May 1662 – ever since there is at least one such per year, making it the longest continuously running show in recorded history.
- A fifth of all cinemas in Britain are located in London. The capital is also a major shooting location for countless films, including cult classics like A Clockwork Orange, as well as multibillion dollar productions like the James Bond and Harry Potter franchises.
The three best selling recording artists for the first decade of the 21st century are or were all based in London – those are Adele, Amy Winehouse and Coldplay.- The Magna Carta is now preserved at the British Library. There are 380 public libraries in the capital and over 800 bookshops.
- The richest records of British and European history are stored at the National Archives in London. The records date back to the 11th century and include such items like William the Conqueror’s Domesday Book.
- Over 100 million GBP in purchases are made each year at the London Fashion Week festival. All of the shows are now on live-stream on the internet.
- 350 000 people visited the London Design Festival in 2012 making it the largest event of its kind in the whole world.
- It is all about the people though and because of them too – according to a recent poll as many as 87% of the London residents consider the strong and diverse cultural scene as the key to high quality of life.
