Sun on History

The last of the evening sun falling on the ornate facade of the side of the building.  The Royal Exchange is mostly photographed from the very grand front entrance. Built in 1840 to replace the original destroyed in the great fire of London in 1666 (how's that for a scary number) it is equally grand on all of its sides.  

Royal Exchange Building

Perhaps one of the very first shopping malls in the world!  The first Royal exchange building with its boutique shops stood here in 1571.  It burnt down in the 1666 great fire.  The current building is the third one, built by the Victorians.

However this spot has been significant for a lot longer than the middle ages.  The cross roads on which it stands is the meeting of five major roads that all lead out to the various parts of England.  These roads were built by the Romans and now all feed into the main arterial routes that exist today.