Monument

Monument Review

Commemorating the "dreadful visitation" of the Great Fire of London, in 1666, this is the world's tallest isolated stone column. It is the work of Sir Christopher Wren and Dr. Robert Hooke, who were asked to erect it "on or as neere unto the place where the said Fire soe unhappily began as conveniently may be." And so here it is—at 202 feet, exactly as tall as the distance it stands from Farriner's baking house in Pudding Lane, where the fire started (note the gilded urn of fire at the column's pinnacle). If climbing the 311 steps is enough to put you off your lunch, cheat a little and watch the live views that are relayed from the top.