It is home to the Palace of Westminster and the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is also home to Westminster Abbey.

See also

• The Westminster Abbey
• The Palace of Westminster

A shrine was initially erected in 616 AD because a fisher man saw a vision of St. Peter on the Thames River at that site. The stone Abbey was built around 1045-1050 by King Edward the Confessor, who chose the site for his burial. The King was buried there a week after the building was consecrated.

The Abbey became the coronation site of the Norman kings and another king buried there was King Henry III. Additions were made to the building between 1275 and 1517. The Abbey’s two western towers were built between 1722 and 1745. In the 1800s, the first third of the King James Bible Old Testament and the last half of the New Testament were translated there.

The Abbey was the site of numerous coronations as well as the burials of King Henry III and many aristocrats, poets and monks.

It’s also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace. This is where the House of Lords and the House of Commons meet to discuss their political and governmental business. The Palace consists of almost 1,200 rooms and 100 staircases. It carries more than two miles of corridors. The Palace of Westminster mostly dates back to the 19th century; Westminster Hall is among the original historic buildings and is used for lying in state occasions.

Control over the Palace was traditionally given to a representative of the Queen of England, called the lord Great Chamberlain; however, since 1965, control has been passed to the two houses.