Wikipedia:Today's featured article/June 26, 2005



The Palace of Westminster is where the two Houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (the House of Lords and the House of Commons) conduct their sittings. The Palace lies on the west bank of the River Thames in the London borough of the City of Westminster. The oldest extant part of the Palace, Westminster Hall, dates to 1097. The Palace originally served as a royal residence; however, no monarch has lived in it since the sixteenth century. One of the Palace's most famous features is the Clock Tower, a notable London tourist attraction that houses Big Ben and is often erroneously referred to by this name. The Palace includes over one thousand rooms, and is the site of important state ceremonies, most notably the State Opening of Parliament. The Palace is very closely associated with the two Houses, as evidenced by the use of "Westminster" as a metonym for "Parliament."

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