Monuments & Ruins

Not every statue in London. The ones worth crossing the road for: Roman wall, medieval ruins, and the monuments that earn a detour.

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Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain

Eros, who is not Eros, on the fountain at Piccadilly Circus.

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Photo by Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Alfred Gilbert's fountain of 1893 commemorates the Earl of Shaftesbury, the reformer who got children out of the mines and the mills, and the winged archer on top is Anteros, the god of selfless love, chosen for that reason. London called him Eros from the first day and never stopped. He was the first statue in the world cast in aluminium, and Gilbert's fountain beneath him was so extravagantly designed that it soaked passers-by and he left the country in disgust. It has been moved twice and now stands at the edge of the circus rather than the middle, facing down Shaftesbury Avenue.

Where
Piccadilly Circus, W1J 9HT
Nearest station
Piccadilly Circus · 1 min walk

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Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.

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