This is the center of London, by dint of a plaque on the corner of the Strand and Charing Cross Road from which distances on U.K. signposts are measured. It's the home of the National Gallery on its north side, and Nelson's Column at the heart of the square, flanked by two generals who distinguished themselves in the service of empire in India: Charles Napier, conqueror of Sind, and Henry Havelock, who recaptured Cawnpore (Kanpur) for the British during the Indian rebellion of 1857. Great events, such as the Christmas Tree lighting ceremony, New Year's Eve, royal weddings, political protests, and sporting triumphs always see the crowds gathering in the city's most famous square.

The commanding open space is built on the grand scale demanded by its central position in the metropolis of a great imperial power. From the 13th century the site housed the Royal Mews for the royal hawks and falcons. As falconry became less popular, the space was used for horse stables and barracks until 1830, when John Nash had the buildings torn down as part of his Charing Cross Improvement Scheme. Nash exploited the square's natural incline -- it slopes down from north to south -- making it a succession of high points from which to look down the imposing carriageways that run dramatically away from it toward the Thames, the Houses of Parliament, and Buckingham Palace. Upon Nash's death, the design baton was passed to Sir Charles Barry and then to Sir Edwin Lutyens.

On the southern point of the square, en route to Whitehall, is the equestrian statue of Charles I. After the Civil War and the king's execution, Oliver Cromwell, then the leader of the "Commonwealth," commissioned a scrap dealer, brazier John Rivett, to melt the statue. The story goes that Rivett buried it in his garden and made a fortune peddling knickknacks wrought, he claimed, from its metal, only to produce the statue miraculously unscathed after the restoration of the monarchy -- and to make more cash reselling it to the authorities. In 1767 Charles II had it placed where it stands today, near the spot where his father was executed in 1649. Each year, on January 30, the day of the king's death, the Royal Stuart Society lays a wreath at the foot of the statue.