Cleopatra's Needle (London)
United Kingdom /
England /
London
World
/ United Kingdom
/ England
/ London
World / United Kingdom / England
monument, obelisk, Grade I Listed (UK)
The oldest monument in London ;)The needle is made of red granite, stands about 21 metres (68 feet) high, weighs about 180 tons and is inscribed with hieroglyphs. Although the needles are genuine Ancient Egyptian obelisks, they are somewhat misnamed as neither has any connection with queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt. It was originally erected in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis on the orders of Thutmose III, around 1450 BC. The material of which it was cut is granite, brought from Aswan, near the first cataract of the Nile. The inscriptions were added about 200 years later by Ramses II to commemorate his military victories. The obelisk was moved to Alexandria and set up in the Caesarium — a temple built by Cleopatra in honor of Mark Antony — by the Romans in 12 BC, during the reign of Augustus Caesar, but was toppled some time later. This had the fortuitous effect of burying the faces and so preserving most of the hieroglyphs from the effects of weathering.
www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Cleopatr...
www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Cleopatr...
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra's_Needle,_London
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 51°30'30"N -0°7'12"E
- The Tower of London 2.9 km
- Moat 43 km
- Roman Site 55 km
- West Pier 77 km
- Devils Jumps 79 km
- Arundel Castle Grounds 79 km
- Fort Nelson (Royal Armouries Museum) 101 km
- Portchester Castle 102 km
- Cumberland Fort 102 km
- Merdon Castle 104 km
- Central London 0.1 km
- Strand 0.4 km
- Covent Garden 0.6 km
- St. James's 1.1 km
- Lambeth 1.1 km
- St. James's Park 1.2 km
- St. James's Park Lake 1.2 km
- London 1.9 km
- City of Westminster 3 km
- Lambeth Council 5.4 km