Piccadilly Circus, Road junction in City of Westminster, England.

Piccadilly Circus is a road junction in City of Westminster where several major streets converge to form an open space surrounded by tall buildings fitted with large electronic advertising screens. The northern facades display glowing panels with rotating advertisements, while shops and commercial establishments line the remaining sides of the junction.

The junction opened in 1819 to link Regent Street with Piccadilly, taking its name from the original circular design. Roadworks during the 1880s removed the circular layout and reshaped the crossing into an open space with wide through roads.

The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, unveiled in 1893, honours Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. Its winged aluminium figure, the first monument in London cast entirely in that metal, represents the Angel of Charity rather than Eros, as many assume. Flower sellers and shoe-blacks worked on its steps until the 1940s.

The underground station beneath the junction connects to several tube lines, while many bus routes pass through the crossing. The open area can become crowded during peak hours, so visiting in late morning or early evening often provides a more comfortable experience when pedestrian traffic eases slightly.

The junction's first electric advertisements went up in 1908, and from 1923 electric billboards were installed on the facade of the London Pavilion. Gas street lamps, by contrast, were not replaced by electric ones until 1932. The screens on the corner building continue that early commercial lighting.