The official name of the Houses of Parliament is
Palace of Westminster and it is located in the city of westminster at the
parliament-square.
This is because it was the royal palace before the
king moved to Whitehall Palace in 1529. Now the palace is home to the United
Kingdom Parliament.
On
5 November 1605, some radical Catholics wanted to blow up the Houses of
Parliament. But they were not successful. Guards searched the cellars of the
Palace and found 36 barrels of gunpowder. Every year on 5
November people commemorate Guy Fawkes Day (or Gunpowder Day)
with fireworks and bonfires.
In
1834, a fire destroyed most of the palace. Between 1840 and 1888, Sir Charles
Barry rebuilt the Palace of
Westminster and also added the famous clocktower that everybody knows
as Big Ben. Actually, it is only the name
of the biggest bell in the clock tower, which rings the hour. Big Ben takes its
name from Sir Benjamin Hall, who ordered the casting of the 16 ton bell in
1856. The tower called Elizabeth tower since 2012.
The
oldest preserved parts of the palace are the Westminster Hall from 1097 and the
Jewel Tower, who was built in 1365.
Written by Carina Hueber
