Cleopatra’s Needle - London - Places of Interest

London, Paris and New York all share a similar landmark, an ancient Egyptian obelisk presented to their countries by the rulers of Egypt in the 19th century, the ones in London and New York being a pair.

London’s Cleopatra’s Needle stands along the banks of the Thames on Victoria Embankment between Waterloo and Westminster Bridges. It was originally made for Pharaoh Thutmose III around 1460 BC and erected in the city of Heliopolis with hieroglyphic inscriptions added 200 years later by Ramesses II. Over a thousand years later the Romans moved the obelisks to Alexandria where they were eventually toppled over and buried in sand.

In the early 1800s Britain defeated Napoleon’s forces in battles in and around Egypt and in 1819 the Viceroy of Egypt Muhammed Ali presented the obelisk to Britain in commemoration of these victories. The Needle is 68ft high and weighs about 180 tons and the cost and difficulty of moving it to Britain prevented it arriving in London until 1878 after a specially built vessel was commissioned to take it on its journey. Cleopatra’s Needle is flanked on either side by a pair of large bronze sphinxes which were added in 1882.

The Needle is about 200 metres to the left of Embankment Underground station as you face the River Thames.