GREENWICH

by Jonathan T. and Elias D. 9c Gymnasium Casimirianum Coburg

Greenwich is a borough of London, which is in the South-East of London. It is known for the Greenwich Prime Meridian and the Greenwich Mean Time. It´s also the centre of the British navy (the Royal Navy). Greenwich was already populated in the Bronze-Age. The Saxons lived there, too. After the 15th century Greenwich was the site of the Royal Family who lived in the Palace of Placentia. The palace was destroyed during the English Civil War, but it was reconstructed as the Royal Naval Hospital for Sailors by Sir Christopher Wren. Since 1998 the hospital has been used as a music academy (the Trinity College of Music). In Greenwich there´s also the Royal Greenwich Observatory, which was built in 1675 by king Charles II. as a workplace for astronomers. Since 1884 the telescope in the centre of the observatory has been the place where the Greenwich prime meridian begins. On 16th December 1999 a powerful green laser was established, which marks the Greenwich Meridian. Today the Royal Greenwich Observatory building is a part of the National Maritime Museum and old instruments for sailing and navigation are shown there.
In 1997 the whole borough of Greenwich became part of the world cultural heritage, because of the many historic buildings and the beautiful Greenwich Park.
You can get to Greenwich by bus, by Underground or by Docklands Light Railway. Greenwich is in the Travelcard Zone 2, but you can walk there as well. You needn´t pay money for visiting the borough at all, but you have to pay an entrance fee for the National Maritime Museum and the other museums in Greenwich. Most shops and museums are open until 8 pm.
All in all you can say that the borough of Greenwich is definitely worth a visit, because there are many museums and other cultural sights and there is a wonderful park.


Our impressions


Greenwich was the first place we visited in London. When we got there, it was still closed so we walked through the park and crossed the River Thames in a tunnel underneath the river. At 9.30am the doors of the Royal Observatory opened and we went into the museum and took pictures of ourselves on the Prime Meridian. We didn't have to pay any entrance fee.
The most exciting experience in the Royal Observatory didn’t have to do with the museum itself. Someone had left their bags in the yard of the museum. After only a few moments lots of security guards came and everyone was very excited. Fortunately the owner appeared shortly later. He didn't want to carry his bag in the museum.

All in all, we liked Greenwich, although we were very tired (because we hardly slept on the bus the night before).
Elias D., Jonathan T.