The project is based on two large two-meter-high dragon sculptures, which were built above the entrance to the Coal Exchange in Lower Thames Street. 

It was designed by the city architect, James Bunstone Bunning in 1849.

The Dragon is the symbol of the City of London and it safeguards the historic entrances, the most famous at the top of the Temple bar.

There are thirteen Dragons around the City of London.
And, in addition to the Birch dragon at Temple Bar, and the two original Coal Exchange statues on Victoria Embankment, there are two replicas of the Coal Exchange dragon at the south end of London Bridge, two on High Holborn near Gray's Inn Road, and single replicas on  Bishopsgate, Moorgate, Goswell Road, Farringdon Street, and in other places. 
(Galvani-El Ouelhani)

The Ned was originally designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens as the headquarters of Midland Bank, which was the largest clearing house bank in the world.

Today, the Ned is a private members club and new hotel transformed by Soho House and Sydell Group who spent over 500 million pounds, and it is located in the heart of the City of London.

Some signs of the old bank are still present in the hotel, for example, there are over 3,800 boxes left in the ancient vault.

Now fully restored and converted to a hotel, it has nine unique restaurants and bars that stay open till four a.m., majestic event spaces converted from the executive offices and board rooms, extensive health and a rooftop terrace with pool overlooking from St. Pauls to The Shard. 

There are eleven floors, 252 rooms with a 20s and 30s style design.

The restaurants are located from the ground floor to the roof and cross the globe, from England to Italy, from North America to Asia with all kinds of delicacies. 

Sitting at one of the prestigious tables of the restaurant, you can savor delicacies from every country.

Ned club is divided into two categories: “THE NED CLUB ACTIVE” which offers cardio, sports equipment, a gym for boxing, yoga and spinning; and “THE NED CLUB RELAX” a comfortable and relaxing air welcomes guests in a S.P.A, with a 20-meter swimming pool, sauna and Turkish bath.
(Luca Rossetti)

English Heritage then discovered that the damage was far more severe than initially thought, and they stopped insisting on full restoration, albeit over the objections of architectural conservationists. The Baltic Exchange and the Chamber of Shipping sold the land to Trafalgar House in 1995. Most of the remaining structures on the Baltic Exchange site were then carefully dismantled, and the interior of Exchange Hall and the façade were preserved, hoping for a reconstruction of the building in the future. The salvaged material was eventually sold for £800,000 and moved to Tallinn, Estonia, where it awaits reconstruction as the centrepiece of the city's commercial sector.

"The nickname"
The Gherkin nickname was applied to the current building at least as long ago as 1999, referring to that plan's highly unorthodox layout and appearance.

(Parolari)

The city started to grow up under the anglo-saxon power: first the Westminster Abbey was built.

London continued to slowly grow and during 1300 and 1400 it included Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Farrington and Southwark.

After the Great Fire of London, in 1700 the city spread west to create the West End including Bloomsbury, Fitzrovia, Soho and Mayfair.

At the beginning of 1800 in the Victoria time, there wasn't a leader, so the city was managed by local vestries, but in 1855 with a Metropolis Management Act being passed and that paved the way to a modern-day London.

The Act created the Metropolitan Board of Works.

In 1889 with the formation of the London county Council and the County of London was created some counties were pushed back.

In 1965 the London that we know today was born.

(Caraffini)

Some executions were carried out in the Tower complex. Anne Boleyn, one of Henry VIII's wives was executed on Tower Green. During the Middle Ages the heads of executed criminals were hung on the Tower walls.

In the 1300s the Tower of London became the official home of the Crown Jewels. Money and gold bars were also kept there because it was one of the safest places in the city.

Two features attract most of the attention of the Tower's visitors. The Beefeaters (a Yeoman Warder of Tower of London) are responsible for guarding the tower and showing visitors around. The ravens around the Tower are said to be the symbol of the British monarchy. As long as there are ravens flying around the monarchy will survive.
FUN FACT:
From the Wall Walk you can see the famous ravens. No one knows when or why they arrived, but legend has it that if any of the six birds ever leaves the Tower, the kingdom will fall. Don’t scare them away!

The seven gates of London were:

Aldgate 

This was the gate that led out of London towards Colchester (an important roman town).

Geoffry Chaucher lived inside the gate during the 14th century.

Bishopsgate 

This was the gate that led out of London towards East Anglia (now known as Shoreditch high Street).

It’s the only London gate to be mentioned in a Beatle song.

Moorgate 

This was the gate that led out of London towards Islington.

It was built up in the medieval times, it was the last to be built.It became a gate in 1415. It was one of the northern gates of the city of London and it took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay to the north of the wall.

Cripplegate 

This was the gate that led out of London towards the village of Islington.

The gate took its name from the word “cripple” which means a kind of subterranean vault that might have been in the area.

Aldersgate 

This was the gate that led out of London towards St. Bartholomews Abbey and Smithfield Market. Aldersgate probably replaced an earlier gateway to the west of the city.

Newgate 

This was the gate that led out of London towards Oxford and the west.

It’s very famous probably because of the jail which grew up in the middle ages.

Ludgate 

This was the gate that led out of London towards Bath and the southwest.

It’s name probably came from the king Laud (an ancient king of London).

From this gate you can observe St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Most of the gates lasted until 1760. When many of them were torn down because of the road widening.

(Marta Montali)

The cathedral is one of the most famous and most recognisable sights of London. Its dome has dominated the skyline for over 300 years. At 365 feet (111 m) high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1963. The dome remains among the highest in the world. St Paul's is the second-largest church building in area in the United Kingdom after Liverpool Cathedral.

St Paul's have included the funerals of Admiral Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher; peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars; the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer;

The cathedral survived the Blitz although struck by bombs on 10 October 1940 and 17 April 1941. On 12 September 1940 a time-delayed bomb that had struck the cathedral was successfully defused and removedit: it would have totally destroyed the cathedral; it left a 100-foot (30 m) crater when later remotely detonated in a secure location.10 October 2019 a Muslim converted planned to attack the cathedral and other targets such as a hotel and a train station using explosives.

One of the best known images of London during the war was a photograph of St Paul's while was shrouded in smoke taken on 29 December 1940 during the "Second Great Fire of London" 

ROMANS FAULT

But how did the UK end up with two Londons? Because of Romans. 2,000 years ago they came to Great Britain, killed a bunch of druids, and founded a trading post on the River Tames and named it Londonium. Being Romans, they got to work doing what Romans do: enforcing laws, increasing trade, building temples, public baths, roads, bridges and a wall to defend their work. And it’s because this wall that the current City of London exists.

MODERN HISTORY

A thousand years after the Romans when William the Conqueror came to Great Britain to conqueror everything and begin modern British history, he found the City of London, with its wall. He agreed to recognize the rights and privileges City of Londoners were used to, in return for them recognizing him as the new King.

Then a thousand-year long tradition started where Monarchs always reconfirmed that the City of London is a special and unique place best left on his own business. Many monarchs thought the City of London was too powerful and rich. And one even built a new Capital city nearby, named Westminster, to compete with the City of London and hopefully suck power and wealth away from it. This was the start of the second London (London 2.0) which grew up to become the London we know today.

Beatrice Ianelli