The Tower of London

The Tower of London was begun in 1078 by William the Conqueror. The first building was the White Tower which is the inner most tower on the complex. Now the Tower of London consists of 20 towers total: 13 towers on the middle wall, 6 on the outer wall, and 1 tower in the middle.

The White Tower

Although the Tower of London is a royal palace and a fortress, it has also been used as a prison and is probably most well known for this. Prisoners have included royalty, political and religious enemies, and even children.

Personally, I enjoyed visiting the Beauchamp Tower. This is where many prisoners, especially political prisoners were held. There were many interesting stories of prisoners who were held there such as Thomas Abel, Catherine of Aragon's chaplain and one of Hitler's deputies during WWII. In this tower you can see the engravings of the prisoners on the walls.

The crown jewels are also kept within the Tower of London. Including the First Star of Africa, which is a 530.2 carat diamond.

Building where the Crown Jewels are held