The City of London

This square mile of London, known as 'The City' to Londoners, started it's transformation to one of the world's largest financial centres in 1565 when Thomas Gresham founded The Royal Exchange to provide a place for merchants to agree deals, and exchange goods for money.

The City grew massively during the Industrial Revolution to engulf nearby villages and create the scale of modern London.

Extensive bombing in WWII allowed major rebuilding after the war, to create the offices you see in this picture. Today, few people live in the City as it is largely offices, and consequently relatively quiet at night.