PICCADILLY CIRCUS
Piccadilly Circus
- Piccadilly takes it name from a 17th century frilly collar called a picadil.
A dressmaker grew rich making them and built a house in the vicinity.
For many years,
Piccadily Circus - at the junction of five busy streets - has been a famous
London Landmark. At its heart and backlit by colourful electric displays
is a bronze fountain
topped by a figure of a winged archer. The statue is popularly called EROS, the pagan god of love, but it
was in fact designed in the 19th century as a symbol of christian charity - a monument to Lord
Shaftesbury, a philanthropist.
The famous statue
of Eros in Piccadilly Circus is one of the symbols of London. It was originally
called the Shaftesbury Monument, having been erected as a memorial to the
philanthropist Lord Shaftesbury.
The actual figure rises above a fountain, which is made in bronze, but Eros is
made out of aluminium, at
that time a rare and novel material.
Charing
Cross.
Piccadilly
Circus
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Buses: 3, 6, 9, 12, 14, 15, 38, 88 & 159
