If you have carefully read the iconic dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, you probably remember Victory Square with the impressive statue of Big Brother. They say the writer was inspired by an actual place on the map of London. It was Trafalgar Square, in the center of which stands Nelson’s Column.

Trafalgar Square is located in Westminster at the intersection of Mall, Strand, and Whitehall. If you get lost, focus on the National Gallery of London as this magnificent building locks the square in and is impossible to miss. Also nearby are St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church and the Admiralty Arch, both worth being included in your itinerary.

Within the area where the square is now, there once were the stables of the Palace of Whitehall. After their demolition, the place remained in desolation for a long time, but at the beginning of the 19th century, architect John Nash revised the plan for a new cultural and public space. After several decades of construction, Trafalgar Square was unveiled.

The square was gradually decorated with fountains and memorials. The main one among these is the already mentioned Nelson’s Column. It was erected to commemorate the victory of the vice-admiral at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The granite statue, five meters tall, perches on a bronze pedestal. At its footing, there are four panels depicting Nelson’s military theater. Near the column, there are formidable statues of lions as if guarding the monument like the famous royal guards keeping watch at Buckingham Palace.

At the corners of the square, there are four pedestals. On two of them, there are bronze statues of famous generals, Charles James Napier and Henry Havelock; another one has a statue of King George IV. However, the fourth, the northwest pedestal, has been empty for many years. Today, it is used as a temporary site for world-renowned contemporary art objects.

It would be symbolic to start your discovery of the capital of the UK from Trafalgar Square because it is considered a milepost zero of the city and the whole country in general.