Westminster Hall - virtually the only relic of the medieval palace is the bare expanse of Westminster Hall, on the north side of the complex. First built by William Rufus in 1099, it was saved from the 1834 fire by the timely intervention of the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, who had the fire engines brought into the hall itself, and personally took charge of the fire fighting. The sheer scale of the hall - 240 ft by 60 ft - and its huge oak hammerbeam roof, added by Richard II in the late fourteenth century, make it one of the most magnificent secular halls in Europe.
St Stephen's Hall and the Central Lobby - from Stephen's Porch the route to the parliamentary chambers passes into St Stephen's Hall, designed by Barry as a replica of the chapel built by Edward I, where the Commons met for nearly 300 years until 1834. The ersatz vaulted ceilings, faded murals statuary and huge wooden doors create a rather sterile atmosphere doing nothing to conjure up the dramatic events that have unfolded here. Shortly after wards the Civil War began, and no monarch has entered the Commons since St Stephen's also witnessed the only assassination of a Prime Minister, when in 1812 Spencer Perceval was shot by a merchant whose business had been ruined by the Napoleonic wars. After a further wait the door keeper shepherds you through the bustlink, octagonal Central Lobby, where constituents "lobby" their MPs. In the tilling of the lobby Pugin inscribed in Latin the motto : "Except the Lord keep the house, they labour in vain that build it".
Big Ben - is a 13.5-ton bell, tolls the hours in the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament. The original palace on the site of the Houses of Parliament was largely destroyed by fire in 1834. The current building was completed in 1852.
The House of Commons - if you're heading for the House of Commons, you'll be ushered into a small room where all visitors sign a form vowing not to cause a disturbance; long institutional staircases and corridors then lead to the Strangers's Gallery, rising steeply above the chambers. Since an incendiary bomb in May 1941 destroyed Barry's original chamber, what you see now is rather lifeless reconstruction by Giles Gilbert Scott, completed in 1950. Members of the cabinet occupy the two "front benches'; the rest are "backbenchers".
The House of Lords - On the other side of the Central Lobby a corridor leads to the House of Lords (or Upper House), a far dozier establishment, peopled by unselected Lords and Ladies, both hereditary and appointed by successive Mps, and a smattering of bishops. Their home boasts a much grander décor than the Commons, full of regal gold and scarlet, and dominated by a canopied gold throne where the Queen sits for the state opening of parliament in November.
The royal apartments - if the House of Lords takes your fancy, you can see pomp and glitter by joining up with a guided tour. You'll be asked to meet at the Norma Porch entrance below Victorian Tower, where the Queen arrives in her coach for the state opening. Then, after the usual security checks, you'll be taken up the Royal Staircase to the Norman Porch itself, every nook of which is stuffed with busts of eminent statesmen.
Jewel Tower and the Victoria Tower Garden - the Jewel Tower, across the road from parliament, is a remnant of the medieval palace. The tower formed the southwestern corner of the exterior fortifications (there's a bit of moat left, too), and was constructed by Edward III as a giant strong-box for the crown jewels. On the other side of the road are the rather more attractive and leafy Victoria Tower Gardens, which look out onto the Thames.
