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Trafalgar Square is a square in central London that commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar ( 1805), a British naval victory of the Napoleonic Wars. The original name was to have been "King William the Fourth's Square", but George Ledwell Taylor suggested the name "Trafalgar Square".
The area had been the site of the King's Mews since the time of Edward I. In the 1820s the Prince Regent engaged the landscape architect John Nash to redevelop the area. Nash cleared the square as part of his Charing Cross Improvement Scheme. The present architecture of the square is due to Sir Charles Barry and was completed in 1845.
The square consists of a large central area surrounded by roadways on three sides, and stairs leading to the National Gallery on the other. Prior to 2003, the square was surrounded by a one-way traffic system on all sides. Underpasses attached to Charing Cross underground station still allow pedestrians to avoid traffic.
In the center of the square is Nelson's Column, surrounded by fountains and four huge bronze lionThe Lion Panthera leo is a mammal of the family Felidae. The male lion, who is easily recognized by his mane, may weigh up to 250 kg (550 lb). Females are much smaller, weighing up to only 180 kg (400 lb). In the wild lions live for around 10 14 years, whs sculpted by Sir Edwin Landseer; the metal used is said to have been recycled from the cannons of the French fleet. The column is topped by a statueA statue is a sculpture depicting a specific entity, usually a person, event, animal or object. Its primary concern is representational. However, as with all artistic topics, this definition of the concept Statue is far from exhaustive and can be/needs to of Lord Nelson, the admiral who commanded the British FleetThe Royal Navy is the navy of the United Kingdom. It operates a number of aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates, fifteen nuclear submarines, and various other ships, as well as aircraft and Britain's amphibious forces, the Royal Marines. The Royal Navy at Trafalgar.
On the north side of the square are the National Gallery and St Martin's-in-the-Fields. The square adjoins The Mall via Admiralty Arch to the southwest. To the south is Whitehall, to the east The Strand, to the north Charing Cross Road and on the west side is Canada House .
At the corners of the square are four plinths, the two northern were intended to be used for equestrian statues, they are wider than the two southern. Three of them hold statues: George IV (northeast, 1840s), Henry Havelock (southeast, 1861, by William Behnes), and Sir Charles James Napier (southwest, 1855). Mayor of London Ken Livingstone controversially expressed a desire to see these replaced with statues of people more relevant to the 21st century.