Trafalgar Square, London

The site of Trafalgar Square was occupied by the royal stables in the 13th century. The Prince Regent commissioned architect John Nash to landscape this area in the 1820s, and it was completed in its current form in 1845. Trafalgar Square is located at the center of London. It is dedicated to the Battle of Trafalgar of 1805. The most important monument in the square is Nelson's Column, erected in honor of Admiral Horatio Nelson. He led the British Fleet to victory in this battle, one of the many fought during the Napoleonic Wars. The courageous admiral died in naval combat. The statue is 5.5 m high and stands on top of a 56 m granite column. It faces the Palace of Westminster. Four bronze plates are engraved upon the pedestal. They were cast from the captured weapons of the enemy. Each plate depicts a victory of Nelson's.
Originally Trafalgar was to be named King William the Fourth's Square. The name Trafalgar was proposed by George Ledwell Taylor, an architect who lived in London.

Nelson's Column is bordered by four giant bronze lions and fountains. Trafalgar Square borders with the National Gallery to the north, Whitehall to the south and St. Martin's-in-the-Fields Church to the east. The square has transformed from a promenade, lined with statues of British heroes, to a political center of sorts. It is also a popular meeting place and a prime tourist attraction. At one point it was best known for the pigeons. There were so many that it was hard to move across the square. Today this is no longer the case, because feeding pigeons at the square became illegal after a law was passed in 2003.
Another tradition associated with the square is the Christmas ceremony. The custom to hold a ceremony here annually was established in 1947. London's Christmas tree is invariably a spruce or fir from Norway, presented to the city by Oslo in gratitude for Britain's support in WWII. In the years of the war the king of Norway and his son lived in London in exile. Traditionally the mayor of Oslo lights the Christmas tree during the ceremony.
Trafalgar is a popular venue for political demonstrations. The Labor Movement, which gained momentum after the 1880s, began to hold protests here that decade. The most memorable was that on February 6, 1886. This protest was against the high rate of unemployment and resulted in a riot in Pall Mall. This day has remained in history as Black Monday. Recently there were protests here against the Iraq war and the use of nuclear weapons. Londoners also gathered at Trafalgar to commemorate the victims of the terrorist attacks on July 7, 2005.
A large VE Day celebration took place here in 1945. The Nazi regime officially collapsed on May 8, 1945, and Brits from all over the country flocked to Trafalgar to hear Prime Minister Winston Churchill announce that the war had come to an end.
There are four plinths at the corners of Trafalgar square. Three of them are occupied by the statues of Sir Charles James Napier, Henry Havelock and George IV. The last one remained empty until 1999, when it was decided to hold a series of modern art exhibits there. Mark Wallinger's Ecce Homo, which translates from Latin as behold the man, was placed on top of the enormous plinth in 1999. This was a life-size statue of a man, but it appeared very tiny at this location. Many observers found it delightful, seeing it as insight into men's delusions of grandeur. It was replaced by Bill Woodrow's Regardless of History in 2000, which in turn was succeeded by Rachel Whiteread's Monument in 2001. This work merits further note. The Monument consisted of a one-to-one replica of the plinth, made from transparent resin and positioned upside down on the plinth. The monument inspired a sense of peace and tranquillity. It was a breath of fresh air in the busy, noisy square.
In the years thereafter the plinth remained empty. Marc Quinn's Alison Lapper Pregnant was placed there in 2005. This is a statue of a friend of the artist, who was born with shortened legs and no arms. It inspires many disputes. Some are taken by it and believe that it will stimulate productive social discourse on the issue of disability, while others are adamant that it is disfigured and ugly, and hardly appropriate at the very center of London. It will be replaced by Thomas Schutte's Hotel for the Birds in 2007.