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 | Celebrations in Trafalgar Square, London, Sunday Jan. 25, 2004, to mark the beginning of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Monkey. click to open  |  | City scenes of London: Trafalgar Square (2) click to open |  | Scenes of London: Trafalgar Square is part of the Metropolitan Improvements proposed during the Regency, the largest single town plan conceived and completed in London. The overall scheme was devised by John Nash (1752-1835), who intended to surround the square with buildings for the Royal Academy of Arts and other learned societies; only the National Gallery was built. Nash was not responsiblefor the design of the square, nor did he live to see it named after the famous naval battle. Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860) laid it out on the site of the former royal mews, overcoming the problem of a slope by levelling the central area and placing a terrace with a flight of steps on the north side. The proposal to commemorate Nelson, the victor at Trafalgar, did not arise until 1837, when a letter suggesting the idea appeared in The Times; in 1843 the column with its 1 statue was put in position. click to open |
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