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| Cleopatra's Needle |
| Cleopatra's Needle, beside the River Thames at Victoria Embankment, is London's oldest monument. The 186 tonnes granite obelisk was cut in 1475 BC, originally sited in Heliopolis, Egypt, and then moved in 23 BC by Emperor Augustus to be beside Cleopatra's palace in Alexandria. It was given as a gift to Britain in 1819. |
| It very nearly didn't make it to London. Cased in a floating iron cyclinder, it became detached from its tug in a storm in 1877 in the Bay of Biscay. Luckily it was recovered and finally reached London in 1878. It is flanked by two bronze phoenixes, one of which was damaged by shrapnel in the London Blitz. |
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Embankment. |
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Charing Cross. |
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