Monument to the Great Fire of London, London, Guide du visiteur et quoi faire à proximité

The Monument to the Great Fire of London is a 202-foot stone column on Fish Street Hill in the City of London, built to mark the fire of September 1666 that destroyed much of the medieval city. Designed by Christopher Wren with Robert Hooke, it stands close to the spot where the blaze began, and you can climb it for a view over the rooftops.

The story behind it

The fire started in the early hours of Sunday 2 September 1666 in the bakery of Thomas Farriner on Pudding Lane. Sparks from his oven are said to have caught nearby flour and wood, and a strong wind pushed the flames through the crowded timber streets. It burned for about five days. Londoners fought it with buckets and hooks to pull down buildings, and later with gunpowder to blow up houses and create firebreaks. Many people fled across the River Thames. Very few deaths were recorded, though the loss of homes and churches was enormous.

The Monument was raised in the years afterwards and finished in the 1670s. Its height matches its distance from the bakery, roughly 202 feet. Wren is better known for rebuilding St Paul's Cathedral and many city churches, and this column is his memorial to the disaster. The Latin inscriptions on its base once blamed Catholics for the fire, a claim that was later removed.

What to look for

• The tall fluted column itself, topped with a gilded urn of flames that catches the light on a clear day.
• The carved panel on the base, which shows London in ruins and the figure of the king offering help to the stricken city.
• The Latin inscriptions around the pedestal, which tell the story of the fire and the rebuilding.
• The viewing gallery at the top, reached by a narrow spiral stair, with views towards Tower Bridge, St Paul's and the Thames.

Tips for your visit

• Allow 30 to 45 minutes if you plan to climb, since the spiral stair is long and narrow and there is no lift.
• You can go inside and up to the gallery. Entry is ticketed, so check current opening hours and admission before you go.
• Walk the few minutes to Pudding Lane to see where the fire began, and add Leadenhall Market and London Bridge on the same stroll.
• Go earlier in the day for a quieter climb and softer light for photographs from the top.

See it on a quest

Seeing the Monument as one stop on Great Fire of London: The Path of Destruction lets you connect the column to the streets where the fire actually spread. You walk to it on foot as part of a longer route through the area, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle on the spot. One ticket covers the whole group.

The Monument also fits Plague of London: The Doctor’s Last Hope, which follows the story of London in the same troubled years. You reach the column on foot, hear about it as you get there, and solve a puzzle in front of it. One ticket covers the whole group.