Covent Garden, Shopping district in Westminster, United Kingdom
Covent Garden is a shopping district at the heart of Westminster that extends across several blocks with shops, cafés, and theaters. A covered marketplace forms the center of the area, surrounded by 19th-century buildings with arcaded columns and tall windows.
The land served as monastic gardens until the mid-16th century, when it passed to a noble family that developed it for housing. In the 1630s, one of London's first planned squares appeared here with rows of houses arranged around it.
The cobbled lanes in the area provide space for street artists who perform juggling, acrobatics, and music in front of audiences that gather spontaneously around them. Small theaters in the side streets present plays and shows that visitors can attend after browsing the shops.
The district sits centrally and most lanes can be explored comfortably on foot because they lie close together. During the day crowds gather, while in the evening theatergoers and restaurant visitors bring life to the streets.
The cast-iron roof structure over the market hall dates from the 19th century and was added after Charles Fowler's classical hall of around 1830. Johann Strauss II composed his waltz "Erinnerung an Covent-Garden" in 1867 and had it premiered here the same year.
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