Norwich
Norwich, the
capital of the part of Britain known as East Anglia, has been in existence for
more than two thousand years. It began as a small village beside the River
Wensum. At the time of the Norman invasion in 1066 it had grown to become one of
the largest towns in England.
With two cathedrals and a
mosque(清真寺), Norwich has long been a popular centre for various religions. The
first cathedral was built in 1095 and has recently celebrated its 900th
anniversary, while Norwich itself had a year of celebration in 1994 to mark the
800th anniversary of the city receiving a Royal Charter. This allowed it to be
called a city and to govern it-self independently.
Today, in
comparison with places like London or Manchester, Norwich is quite small, with a
population of around 150,000, but in the 16th century Norwich was the second
largest city of England. It continued to grow for the next 300 years and got
richer and richer, becoming famous for having as many churches as there are
weeks in the year and as many pubs as their are days in the year.
Nowadays, there are far fewer churches and pubs, but in 1964 the
University of East Anglia was built in Norwich. With its fast-growing student
population and its success as a modern commercial centre (Norwich is the biggest
centre for insurance services outside London), the city now has a side choice of
entertainment: theatres, cinemas, nightclubs,busy cafes,exeellent restaurants,
and a number of arts and leisure centres. There is also a football team, whose
colours are green and yellow. The team is known as "The Canaries (金丝雀)",though
nobody can be sure why.
Now the city’s attractions include
another important development, a modern shopping centre called "The Castle
Mall". The people of Norwich lived with a very large hold in the middle of their
city for over two years, as builders dug up the main car park. Lorries moved
nearly a million tons of earth so that the roof of the mall could become a city
centre park, with attractive water pools and hundreds of trees, but the local
people are really pleased that the old open market remains, right in the heart
of the city and next to the new development. Both areas continue to do good
business, proving that Norwich has managed to mix the best of the oId and the
new. |
