MUSEUM OF LONDON OPENS NEW GALLERY

WAR, PLAGUE AND FIRE, A NEW GALLERY EXPLORING THE TUMULTUOUS CENTURY FROM THE ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH I IN 1558 TO THE GREAT FIRE OF 1666 OPENS THIS WEEK AT THE MUSEUM OF LONDON. BRINGING ALIVE ONE OF THE MOST TURBULENT PERIODS IN LONDON'S HISTORY, THE GALLERY IS FULL OF TREASURES FROM THE MUSEUM'S UNIQUE COLLECTIONS, INCLUDING PRINTING PLATES FROM LONDON'S EARLIEST MAP, RARE DELFTWARE POTTERY, EXQUISITE JACOBEAN JEWELS, OLIVER CROMWELL'S DEATH MASK AND ARCHAEOLOGY FROM THE FIRE THAT NEARLY DESTROYED THE CITY. THE MUCH LOVED GREAT FIRE EXPERIENCE, ONE OF THE OLDEST MODELS IN THE MUSEUM, HAS BEEN RELIT WITH NEW FIBER-OPTIC LIGHTS, VISUAL AND SOUND EFFECTS. AS THE GALLERY OPENS THERE IS ALSO A RARE CHANCE TO SEE THE VEST BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN WORN BY CHARLES I AT HIS BEHEADING, COMPLETE WITH GRUESOME BLOOD STAINS. THE LONDON IS THIS GALLERY SHOWS A DIVIDED METROPOLIS: HOME TO PLEASURE-SEEKERS, WHO FLOCKED TO SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS, AND EVANGELICAL PURITANS, WHO WISHED TO BURN THE THEATERS DOWN. BUT IT WAS ALSO A CENTER OF TRADE WITH A NETWORK STARTING TO REACH AROUND THE GLOBE. THE CITY GREW BEYOND ITS WALLS AND TEH POPULATION TREBLED. THE GALLERY SEES LONDON TRANSFORMING FROM MEDIEVAL TO MODERN.
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