Climb Monument

Only two days since tiredoflondontiredoflife recommended climbing another monument designed by Sir Christopher Wren which was built after the Great Fire of London, but there's a special reason for writing about the Monument today.

The Monument has been closed since July 2007 to undergo an 18 month, £4.5 million restoration, but it reopened to visitors at noon yesterday.

Built to commemorate the Great Fire of London, and placed near the site of Farryner's bakery, where the fire began, Wren was requested to lodge a design as Surveyor-General of the King's Works, and after this was finalised in 1671 it took a further six years before the 202ft Monument was completed.

Legend has it that Charles II refused to have a statue of himself placed atop the monument, as he did not want to be associated with the fire, and so a bowl of flame was placed there instead.

The Monument is open daily 9.30am to 5pm and admission is £3, which includes a certificate to prove you've climbed. For more information visit the website at http://www.themonument.info/.

^{^Picture (pre-refurbishment) from flickr courtesy of RightIndex^}