The Monument

was built between 1671 and 1677 to commemorate the Great Fire of London and to celebrate the rebuilding of the City, it is located at the junction of Monument Street and Fish Street Hill in the City of London.

The Monument was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and Dr Robert Hooke, the Doric column is surmounted by a drum and a copper urn from which flames emerged, symbolising the Great Fire and is 202ft (66m) high.

The Great Fire started in a bakery in Pudding Lane on the 2nd September 1666 and burned for 3 days destroying a large part of the city before it was finally extinguished. Incidentally, the height of The Monument is the exact distance between the monument and the bakery where the fire is believed to have started.

The viewing area is reached by a narrow winding staircase consisting of 311 steps and gives the public a view of London from approx 160ft up.