Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space located in London’s West End in the City of Westminster. It was built in 1819 to establish a connection between Piccadilly and Regent Street. Today, Piccadilly serves as a direct link to theatres on Shaftesbury Avenue and to the Coventry Street, The Haymarket and Glasshouse Street. The Circus is very close to major entertainment and shopping areas in the West End. It’s primarily a crowded meeting place and a world famous tourist attraction.

Piccadilly Circus – iconic place

Piccadilly Circus is surrounded by several famous tourist attractions such as The Criterion Theatre, The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, The London Pavillion and many major retail stores. There are also numerous restaurants, bars and nightclubs which are located in the area and within neighbouring Soho. Since 1908 till this day, Circus has been surrounded by various illuminated advertising buildings and hoardings. For example: Coca-Cola has had a sign at Piccadilly since 1954, McDonald’s added their sign in 1987 and Samsung added theirs in 1994. After World War II, The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain was added at the south-eastern side of the Piccadilly. Originally, it was erected in the centre of the Circus by Lord Shaftesbury, famous British politician and social reformer. Another place worth mentioning is the Criterion Theatre.

This tourist attraction was built in 1874 and is located at the south side of Piccadilly. The entire theatre has nearly 600 underground seats and a box office area. On the north-eastern side of Circus, between Shaftesbury Avenue and Coventry Street emerges the London Pavilion. In 2000, it became a part of the Trocadero Centre. At present, it houses “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!”- attraction dedicated to the weird unusual and unbelievable. The former Swan & Edgar department store building is an iconic site, which has been hosting various music chains stores such as Tower Records, Zavvi or Virgin Megastore.

The most interesting facts according to the Connect-Click:

• A circus, from Latin word meaning “circle” is a round open space at a street junction.
• The phrase “it’s like Piccadilly Circus” is commonly used in UK as a description of an extremely busy, crowded place.
• Bob Marley mentioned Piccadilly Circus in his song “Kinky Reggae” on the “Catch a Fire” album.