The City of London is a fantastic place to walk around, being a mix of the post-modern and traditional, the imposing and quaint, and the modern and medieval. It is probably best appreciated after having done a bit of reading up on its history.

Being the home to a plethora of banks and other financial corporations, during the working week it’s a mess of suits, briefcases and business heels, with the occasional construction worker, newspaper vendor and courier getting lost in the mix.

There are only 10,000 people resident in the City, mainly in the Barbican Estate to the north of the City, but 340,000 commute in and out of it everyday.

In the evening time, the pubs, many of which have retained their traditional feel (i.e. everything wooden and creaky, no loud music, flashing lights and TV screens), fill up mainly with men, smoking and downing their ales, chatting away, talking about profit margins and sex. If you’re in the area at about half five I’d certainly pop into a pub, the Red Deer for example, for a quick pint and to savour the atmosphere.

By nine o’clock in the evening and on a weekend the City is a ghost town. Many of the cafés, sandwich bars and restaurants, which are teeming with life during the weekday are shut.

Besides being a financial powerhouse, the City is the birthplace of London, the site at which the Romans founded the City, and up until the seventeenth century was enclosed in its original Roman city walls.

In fact until the medieval period the City of London was in fact London, which was distinct from the neighbouring city of Westminster.

In 1666 it was the scene of the Great Fire of London, which raised everything to the ground.

Significant landmarks include St.Paul’s Cathedral, the Bank of England, Smithsfields Market, the Barbican Centre and the Guildhall.

The City of London is unique for the way in which it is governed. It is governed by what is known as the Corporation, which is headed by the Lord Mayor of London, and corporations being enabled to vote wield the power with residents having relatively little say. The City of London also has its own police force.

Within the City itself there are two independent enclaves, the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple.

The City has been slowly spreading outwards. In 1993 it was awarded land previously owned by the neighbouring Boroughs of Camden, Islington, Hackney and Tower Hamlets. The 1970s saw the erection of the first skyscraper, and since then more have been built, the most recent being the Broadgate Tower, which sits on land recently claimed from Hackney.

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