HYDE PARK

Description

Essentials about Hyde Park in brief

Next to Central Park in New York City, Hyde Park in London is probably the most famous inner-city park in the world. It is one of eight royal parks in London and, together with Green Park to the east, St. James’s Park and Kensigton Gardens to the west, forms a park landscape over four kilometers long in the heart of the British capital.

The history and the grounds of Hyde Park

With an area of 1.4 square kilometers, Hyde Park is the largest park in central London. The park has its origin in 1536 when Henry III established a hunting ground on the land. In 1637 the park was opened to the public. The park area is divided by Serpentine Lake into a north and a south part and separated from the adjacent Kensigton Gardens by the road West Carriage Drive. Incidentally, the park is named after Hyde Manor, an old manor house.

Sights and attractions in Hyde Park

Today, Hyde Park is the most popular recreational area of Londoners in the heart of the city, where you can pursue a variety of leisure activities. For example, you can swim or row in Serpentine Lake. Furthermore, there is a horse riding track, a bowling alley and other areas for sports activities. The spacious lawns invite you to chillax or picnic. Or you can feed the park’s resident sparrows and squirrels, which are so tame, by the way, that they even eat out of park visitors’ hands. And in the summer, Hyde Park becomes the venue for numerous rock and pop concerts every year.

The most famous building on the edge of Hyde Park is the monumental triumphal arch Wellington Arch, built in honor of the Duke of Wellington, victorious in the Battle of Waterloo. At the northeast corner of the park is a very special place called Speakers Corner. Since 1872, any citizen can make public speeches here as she/he pleases (only the royal family is off limits). Right next to Speakers Corner is the so-called Marble Arch, a magnificent marble arch that once adorned the entrance for state guests at Buckingham Palace.