Piccadilly Circus

is a major junction and tourist attraction of London's West End. Originally built in 1819 to connect Regent Street (under the planning of John Nash) with the major shopping street of Piccadilly, Piccadilly now links directly to the theatres on Shaftesbury Avenue, the Haymarket, as well as connecting Coventry Street and Glasshouse Street.

The Circus is well known for its large video display and neon signs mounted on the corner building on the northern side, as well as the Shaftesbury memorial fountain and statue of an archer popularly known as Eros.

Video Screens

Originally many building hosted illuminated advertising hoardings but now they are confined to the on building. As the years went by incandescent light bulbs where replace by neon lights, digital projectors and now LED signs.

Picadilly Circus at Night

Shaftesbury Memorial and the Statue of Eros

The Shaftesbury Monument Memorial Fountain, erected between 1892-1893 to commemorate the philanthropic works of Lord Shaftesbury, who was a famous Victorian politician and philanthropist. Alfred Gilbert's winged nude statue of an archer, popularly known as Eros after the mythical Greek god of love was the first to be cast in aluminium and is set on a bronze fountain.