Guildhall, London

Guildhall, London

Guildhall, built between 1411 and 1440, was designed to reflect the importance of London’s ruling elite. In the twenty-first century its splendor is still awe-inspiring, and within the walls of this national treasure lie six spectacular rooms providing unique surroundings for corporate and private hospitality. Guildhall is a Grade I-listed building in the City of London, England. It is situated off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. The building has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative center of the City of London and its Corporation. (It should not be confused with London's City Hall, the administrative center for Greater London, of which the city of London is only a small part. )#) The term "Guildhall" refers both to the whole building and to its main room, which is a medieval great hall. The building is traditionally referred to as Guildhall, never "the" Guildhall. The nearest London Underground stations are Bank, St Paul's and Moor gates. Of course, it’s not just this unique setting that creates a memorable event. The combination of history and tradition with the very latest state-of-the-art built-in communication technology helps to ensure that events are effective and smooth-running. During the Roman period, it was the site of an amphitheater, the largest in Britannia, partial remains of which are on public display in the basement of Guildhall Art gallery and the outline of whose arena is marked with a black circle on the paving of the courtyard in front of the hall. Indeed, the siting of the Saxon Guildhall here was probably due to the amphitheaters remains Excavations by MOLAS in 2000 at the entrance to Guildhall Yard exposed remains of the great 13th-century gatehouse built directly over the southern entrance to the Roman amphitheater, which raises the possibility that enough of the Roman structure survived to influence the siting not only of the gatehouse and Guildhall itself but also of the church of St Lawrence Jewry whose strange alignment may shadow the elliptical form of the amphitheater beneath. The first documentary reference to a London Guildhall is dated 1128 and the current hall's west crypt may be part of a late-13th century building. Legendary British history made Guildhall's site the site of the palace of Brutus of Troy.