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Alexandra Palace
Fifteen million bricks... that's what it took to rebuild this place after it burned down just sixteen days after opening in 1873. Standing here at Alexandra Palace on Muswell Hill, you're looking at North London's answer to Crystal Palace, though this one's got way more drama in its story. This Italian-style brick fortress replaced farmland on one of London's highest ridges, and those four corner towers you see? They're not decorative - each one holds 16,000 gallons of water, built after that devastating fire to make sure it never happened again. The original theatre inside could pack in 10,000 people, making it one of the largest in Victorian London. But here's what really puts Ally Pally on the map - in the 1930s, that unassuming room up there became the world's first television studio. The BBC broadcast the very first TV programs from this building, making television history right here in North London. And if you think that's wild, wait until you hear about the Japanese village they built in the grounds back in 1875, complete with authentic buildings shipped from Vienna. Today, the ice rink downstairs runs 364 days a year - one of the hardest working rinks on the planet. Not bad for a place that was literally called the "Palace of the People."
Did You Know?
- Alexandra Palace hosted the world’s first regular public television service—the BBC began broadcasting high-definition television from its iconic tower in November 1936, making it the birthplace of British TV.
- Despite its grand opening in 1873, Alexandra Palace burned down just 16 days later, only to be rebuilt and reopened in 1875; it has suffered two major fires in its history, with the second occurring in 1980, but each time it has risen from the ashes to continue as a beloved public venue.
- On March 23, 1895, Alexandra Palace hosted the first-ever women’s football club match in England, with the British Ladies Football Club’s ‘North’ versus ‘South’ game drawing a crowd of over 11,000 spectators—a landmark event in women’s sports history.