A little gem of Italian architecture in London.

Sometimes taking a stroll along the banks of the Thames can be a rather relaxing way to spend one's free time in London. As you may know, the Thames today doesn't look as it would have done 200 years ago, as many other European capitals, the river got embanked during the reign of Queen Victoria, with work starting in 1862. The reason behind such works was of course to prevent London from being regularly flooded, so it is important not to over-romanticise the past. However, we also know that nowadays systems of dams and containment basins would have prevented such events; the Victorian solution remains a perfectly fine engineering solution to the problem.

The mouth of the River Fleet in the late 18th century.

Before the construction of the embankments, the river was very different and in a way was much part of the life of London, its banks were scattered with beautiful neo-classical houses, some of which consisted of the York House complex in Westminster, docks, and a skyline dominated by the spires of Wren churches, as well as the beautiful Georgian canal at the mouth of the river Fleet at Blackfriars. London looked a bit like a Venice of the north.

The York Watergate and the York House complex in the late 19th century.

The York House complex was a string of thirteen 17th century mansions facing the strand on one side and with their gardens right on the Thames' banks - some of these houses had private access to the river. One of these mansions was the London seat of the Duke of Buckingham, George Villers, the 3rd Duke commissioned an Italianate watergate which still exists now some 130 meters away from the river, with its stone still scarred by the river waters. It is one rare example of Palladian architecture from the reign of Charles I, known for his interest in Italian art, it remains one of the few remaining examples of this in London - it was designed in 1626 by the first English neo-classical architect Inigo Jones. It remains as a sign of a post-Reformation England that knew what was going on in the continental scene in terms of art and which reclaimed for its national grandeur the art of antiquity. The watergate remains a testimony of this and of the Thames' charming past as a northern Venice!

The York Watergate today.