Hyde Park

Hyde Park is one of the largest Royal Parks of London.

It is located in the City of Westminster, near Kensington and Chelsea. Once, Kensington Palace Gardens, which borders the park, were part of this huge area, however in 1728 they were formally separated from the park's area.

In 1851, Hyde Park served as the main site of The Great Exhibition. In the park, divided into two parts by an artificial lake called Serpentine, the Crystal Palace was built, which hosted some of the most important events of the Exhibition. The palace was designed by Joseph Paxton, who won many awards for this project. The building, situated at the top of Sydenham Hill, had quite a unique structure made of cast-iron, modular wood and glass.

The distinctive entrance to the park, known as the Grand Entrance, has a portico supported by four Ionic columns. Another noteworthy structure that can be found in the park is the triumphal arch called the Wellington Arch (or Constitution Arch), which was erected to commemorate the victories of the British navy in the Napoleonic Wars.

Located in the northeast corner of the park near Marble Arch there is the so-called Speakers' Corner - a place where open-air public speaking, debates and discussions are allowed. Speakers my voice their concerns at almost any subject, as long as what they say is within the law.