The Houses of Parliament occupy the Palace of Westminster, where medieval remnants and Victorian Gothic Revival architecture meet beside the Thames. Most of the palace was rebuilt after the fire of 1834, while Westminster Hall and a few other medieval spaces survived and were incorporated into the new complex.
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The riverside outline looks medieval, but most of the Palace of Westminster you see was designed after a devastating fire. On 16 October 1834, tally sticks burned in the House of Lords furnaces ignited the building. The blaze destroyed most of the palace; Westminster Hall and a few other historic sections survived.
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UpgradeQuick facts
- The fire of 1834 destroyed most of the old Palace of Westminster.
- Westminster Hall survived the fire.
- Charles Barry won the competition to design the rebuilt palace in Gothic Revival style.
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