Stephen’s tower.” It was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The official name of Big Ben is actually Elizabeth Tower. The clocktower itself was previously named “Clock Tower” or “St. This new technology quickly became the gold standard for future clocktowers around the world.īig Ben is one of the most iconic film locations in UK and is often seen in establishing scenes of films and tv shows set in London. In fact, an entirely new mechanism was invented and built for the clock inside Big Ben. The clock itself is renowned for being one of the most accurate clocks in the world, especially notable at the time it was built.

It is currently the third tallest clocktower in the UK. The largest bell (known as Big Ben) chimes every hour, while the smaller bells chime every 15 minutes. The chiming clocktower has four clock faces and houses five bells. The clocktower is one of the three main towers at the Palace of Westminster. In this post, I too will use the term Big Ben to refer to the whole clocktower.īig Ben is the nickname given to an iconic gothic clocktower in Central London. By extension, many people use the nickname Big Ben for the entire tower. Then we’ll share some practical information for visiting Big Ben during your trip to London.īefore I go too far in this post, I want to clarify that Big Ben technically refers to only the large bell inside the clocktower. In this brief but thorough guide, we’ll explain everything you never knew you didn’t know about Big Ben. Picture London and you’ll probably picture the famous clocktower known as Big Ben.

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