Piccadilly

London Piccadilly Street is located in the borough of City of Westminster and is one of the most famous streets in the city. It stretches for 1.3 km from Piccadilly Circus (51° 30′ 36″ N, 0° 8′ 4″ W51.51-0.1344444444) in the northeast to Hyde Park Corner (51° 30′ 9″ N, 0° 9′ 3″ W51.5025-0.150833333333) in the southwest. It forms the boundary between the borough of Mayfair to the north and St James's and Green Park to the south. The numbering runs on the north side from east (number 1, near Piccadilly Circus) to west (149, near Hyde Park Corner) and continues on the south side from west (number 150 immediately east of Green Park is the Ritz Hotel) to east (230, opposite Piccadilly Circus).

The name of the street comes from the tailor Robert Baker, who in the late 16th century and early 17th century made the garments then in demand known as piccadills, tall, stiff meandering collars with lace (from the Spanish picadillo) around the edges. He built the house soon to be known as Piccadilly Hall in the west of the city around 1612.

Places of interest

Fortnum & Mason (number 181), which specialises mainly in groceries, was founded in 1707 by William Fortnum and Hugh Mason. Today it is considered one of the most luxurious department stores in the city.

Opened in 1906, the Ritz Hotel (number 150) is considered one of the most prestigious luxury hotels in the world. The neoclassical architecture was based on the design of the houses on the Rue de Rivoli in Paris; the design came from the architects Arthur Davis and Charles Mewès and the engineer Sven Bylander. It was the first hotel in the country with a private bathroom by each hotel room.

Cambridge House, No 94, is a former 18th century Palladian style town palace.

The Royal Academy of Arts (number 50-52) has been located in Burlington House on Piccadilly since 1868.

17th century. The lady on the left and the gentleman on the right wear typical piccadills

Traffic

The Piccadilly Line of the London Underground runs under the street and opens it up with the stations Piccadilly Circus, Green Park and Hyde Park Corner. In addition, numerous bus lines run along the street, including lines 9, 14, 19, 22 and 38 (as of August 2005).