Relive the 'Great Fire' that destroyed London in 1666
It was 1 a.m. on September 2, 1666 when the 'Great Fire' began , in which more than 13,000 houses would burn, leaving 100,000 people homeless. It all started in the bakery Thomas Farynor in Pudding Lane , one of the oldest and narrowest streets in the city. And this is where the exhibition starts Fire! Fire! (until April 17, 2017) that recreates in the museum of london the place where the fire started when Farynor went to sleep without properly putting out the fire in his furnace.
fire of 1666
Is about an immersive exhibition and sensory where one can smell freshly baked bread or burnt wood, visit the tents where thousands of Londoners took refuge and listen to their testimonies.
It is designed especially for the little ones, with games with which they will learn curiosities and anecdotes, such as the story of a neighbor whose most valuable object was a cheese that he buried in the garden of his house.
For the more adventurous, it has been created Feeling the heat (September 20 and December 13), a forensic workshop in which one becomes an investigator to discover the enigmas of the fire, analyzing samples and collecting clues in a room covered in soot and smoke.
Dive into the flames in this immersive exhibit
One of the most emblematic buildings in the city, which was not spared from the flames, was the St Paul's Cathedral . The temple also joins these commemorative events with an exhibition and tours that reveal why the cathedral, which became a refuge for many, was also burned down despite being built of stone.
St. Paul's Cathedral, shelter for neighbors during the fire
Near St Paul is The Monument , a 61 meter Doric column - the exact distance between the monument and the Pudding Lane bakery - which was built to commemorate the disaster and celebrate the rebuilding of London . You can climb to the top 311 steps , where there is a small viewpoint with 360-degree views of the city.
311 steps commemorating the fire
One of the activities that is totally free, and that will make you see London from another perspective, is a tour that you can do at your own pace with a map created for you to follow the trail of the flames and discover the sites that keep more history about the 'Great Fire' . It starts at Pudding Lane and ends at Pie Corner, two references to food that made many think that the fire was a punishment from God because Londoners ate too much.
A map that recreates the course of the flames
And the London's Burning festival (August 30-September 4) will bring the flames back to the streets of London with fire installations around St Paul's Cathedral and Tate Modern. The closure will put a fire show with a sculpture that will recreate the London skyline of 1666 and which will burn in the River Thames on Sunday, September 4 at 8:30 p.m. between Blackfriars and Waterloo Bridge.
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Pier Corner