Do a short quiz before you read.
1. What is Covent Garden?
a. a square in London's West End b. an oprera house c. both of them d. neither of them
2. Covent Garden is one of London's main tourist attractions. How many visitors does it receive annually?
a. 4 million b. 14 million c. 44 million
3. When we think of Covent Garden, it brings to mind the word piazza. What does it stand for?
a. an Italian square b. an Italian road c. an Italian opera genre
4. What did Covent Garden use to be before it became an urban area?
a. a garden near the place where nuns lived b. a garden near the palace
5. Which famous play does Covent Garden feature in?
a. Oscar Wilde's 'An Ideal Husband' b. Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion c. William Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'
Read our text to find out the right answers to your questions.
Charles Dickens wrote: 'What inexhaustible food for speculation, do the streets of London afford! We have not the slightest commiseration* for the man who can take up his hat and stick, and walk from Covent-garden to St. Paul’s Churchyard, and back into the bargain, without deriving some amusement—we had almost said instruction—from his perambulation.** You will have guessed by now that Covent Garden is a street or a square to be more precise. Yearly over 44 million tourists visit Covent Garden - some go because it is London's luxury hub with Dior, Chanel and Burberry stores, others are attracted by its iconic architecture, restaurants and brilliant shows given by street performers.
Covent Garden was one of the first London's squares laid out as a piazza, a large open space with buildings around it. Piazzas were first built in Italy and the most famous Italian piazza is Saint Peter's Square in Rome. Covent Garden Piazza was designed by Inigo Jones (1573-1652), the founder of the English classical tradition of architecture.
The name of the place - Covent Garden - also became the name of the Royal Opera house, which is located there. It is home of Britain's oldest national ballet and opera companies. Some seats in Covent Garden are affordable and will cost you as little as 3 pounds whereas top-price seats will set you back 155 pounds a head.
On the 7th of December in 1732 the Royal Opera House also known as Covent Garden opened its doors. It was founded by a successful theatre manager and actor, John Rich, who used it for showing plays, pantomime and opera. One of the most remarkable facts about Covent Garden is its resilience since it burned twice in 1808 and 1856 and each time was rebuilt. During World War I it was used as a place for storing furniture but then it reopened again in 1919. When World War II broke out, the theatre became a dance hall and would have remained so after the war if Boosey & Hawkes, a British music publisher, hadn’t bought the lease of the building and made it a venue for world-class ballet and opera in London.
If you have never listened to an opera or seen a ballet in Covent Garden, its name might still ring a bell as Bernard Shaw immortalized it in his play ‘Pygmalion’. Do you remember the beginning? ‘Covent Garden at 11.15 p.m. Torrents of heavy summer rain. Cab whistles blowing frantically in all directions. Pedestrians running for shelter into the market and under the portico of St. Paul's Church, where there are already several people, among them a lady and her daughter in evening dress. Why are the lady and her daughter in evening dress? They have apparently had a splendid time at the theatre. By the way, Covent Garden was also the name of the market where Eliza Doolittle sold flowers before becoming a lady under the firm guidance of Professor Higgins.
And, finally, why were both the theatre and the market called Covent Garden? They were named after the district in London where they were situated. And the district was once a beautiful lush garden belonging to Westminster Abbey or, in other words, a convent garden but then it was swallowed up by the expanding city and the letter ‘n’ got missing from its name.
*commiseration - an expression of sympathy for somebody who has had something unpleasant happen to them, especially not winning a competition (from www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com)
**perambulation - a slow walk or journey around a place, especially one made for pleasure (from www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com)
1. What is Covent Garden?
a. a square in London's West End b. an oprera house c. both of them d. neither of them
2. Covent Garden is one of London's main tourist attractions. How many visitors does it receive annually?
a. 4 million b. 14 million c. 44 million
3. When we think of Covent Garden, it brings to mind the word piazza. What does it stand for?
a. an Italian square b. an Italian road c. an Italian opera genre
4. What did Covent Garden use to be before it became an urban area?
a. a garden near the place where nuns lived b. a garden near the palace
5. Which famous play does Covent Garden feature in?
a. Oscar Wilde's 'An Ideal Husband' b. Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion c. William Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'
Read our text to find out the right answers to your questions.
Charles Dickens wrote: 'What inexhaustible food for speculation, do the streets of London afford! We have not the slightest commiseration* for the man who can take up his hat and stick, and walk from Covent-garden to St. Paul’s Churchyard, and back into the bargain, without deriving some amusement—we had almost said instruction—from his perambulation.** You will have guessed by now that Covent Garden is a street or a square to be more precise. Yearly over 44 million tourists visit Covent Garden - some go because it is London's luxury hub with Dior, Chanel and Burberry stores, others are attracted by its iconic architecture, restaurants and brilliant shows given by street performers.
Covent Garden was one of the first London's squares laid out as a piazza, a large open space with buildings around it. Piazzas were first built in Italy and the most famous Italian piazza is Saint Peter's Square in Rome. Covent Garden Piazza was designed by Inigo Jones (1573-1652), the founder of the English classical tradition of architecture.
 |
| COVENT GARDEN PIAZZA |
The name of the place - Covent Garden - also became the name of the Royal Opera house, which is located there. It is home of Britain's oldest national ballet and opera companies. Some seats in Covent Garden are affordable and will cost you as little as 3 pounds whereas top-price seats will set you back 155 pounds a head.
 |
| The Royal Opera House |
On the 7th of December in 1732 the Royal Opera House also known as Covent Garden opened its doors. It was founded by a successful theatre manager and actor, John Rich, who used it for showing plays, pantomime and opera. One of the most remarkable facts about Covent Garden is its resilience since it burned twice in 1808 and 1856 and each time was rebuilt. During World War I it was used as a place for storing furniture but then it reopened again in 1919. When World War II broke out, the theatre became a dance hall and would have remained so after the war if Boosey & Hawkes, a British music publisher, hadn’t bought the lease of the building and made it a venue for world-class ballet and opera in London.
If you have never listened to an opera or seen a ballet in Covent Garden, its name might still ring a bell as Bernard Shaw immortalized it in his play ‘Pygmalion’. Do you remember the beginning? ‘Covent Garden at 11.15 p.m. Torrents of heavy summer rain. Cab whistles blowing frantically in all directions. Pedestrians running for shelter into the market and under the portico of St. Paul's Church, where there are already several people, among them a lady and her daughter in evening dress. Why are the lady and her daughter in evening dress? They have apparently had a splendid time at the theatre. By the way, Covent Garden was also the name of the market where Eliza Doolittle sold flowers before becoming a lady under the firm guidance of Professor Higgins.
 |
| The portico of St. Paul's Church where Eliza Doolittle met Henry Higgins |
And, finally, why were both the theatre and the market called Covent Garden? They were named after the district in London where they were situated. And the district was once a beautiful lush garden belonging to Westminster Abbey or, in other words, a convent garden but then it was swallowed up by the expanding city and the letter ‘n’ got missing from its name.
*commiseration - an expression of sympathy for somebody who has had something unpleasant happen to them, especially not winning a competition (from www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com)
**perambulation - a slow walk or journey around a place, especially one made for pleasure (from www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com)
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