All 10 places, explained
1. White Tower
The White Tower is the big stone keep in the middle. William the Conqueror started building it in the 1070s, and it gave the whole castle its name.
Fun fact In 1240, King Henry III ordered the tower to be painted white inside and out.
2. Crown Jewels
The Crown Jewels are the crowns, swords and other treasures used by kings and queens. They are kept safe in the Jewel House inside the Tower.
Fun fact The collection has about 23,578 gemstones. The biggest diamond, Cullinan I, is in a royal scepter.
3. Traitors' Gate
Traitors' Gate is a big gate on the river side. Long ago, boats from the River Thames brought people into the castle through it, including prisoners.
Fun fact King Edward I built it as a water gate in the 1270s.
4. Bloody Tower
The Bloody Tower is a gate tower in the inner wall. It was first called the Garden Tower, because it looked over a garden.
Fun fact The explorer Sir Walter Raleigh was kept here as a prisoner and started writing a big book called The History of the World.
5. Beauchamp Tower
The Beauchamp Tower is a large tower in the inner wall. Important prisoners were often kept in its rooms.
Fun fact Prisoners carved their names and pictures into its stone walls, and you can still see them today.
6. Tower Green
Tower Green is a lawn inside the castle walls, next to the castle's old church. Ravens often hop around near it.
Fun fact A memorial on Tower Green remembers people who lost their lives at the Tower long ago.
7. Ravens
Big black birds called ravens live at the Tower. A Yeoman Warder called the Ravenmaster looks after them every day.
Fun fact An old story says that if the ravens ever leave, the kingdom will fall, so at least six are always kept.
8. Moat
The moat is the wide ditch around the outer wall. It used to be full of water to keep attackers away from the castle.
Fun fact The water was drained in the 1840s. During the Second World War, people grew vegetables in the moat.
9. Curtain walls
Two rings of thick stone walls surround the White Tower. An enemy who got past the outer wall still had to break through the inner one.
Fun fact The inner wall has 13 towers.
10. Yeoman Warders
The Yeoman Warders, also called Beefeaters, guard the Tower and give tours. They live inside the castle walls with their families.
Fun fact To become a Yeoman Warder, you must have served in the army, navy or air force for at least 22 years.
