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Albertopolis is a nickname for the area centered around South Kensington
South Kensington

South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....
, London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, between Cromwell Road
Cromwell Road

Cromwell Road is a major road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, and is designated part of the A4 road . It was created in the 19th century and is named after Oliver Cromwell....
 and Kensington Gore
Kensington Gore

Kensington Gore is a street in central London, England, the same name having been formerly used for the piece of land on which it stands. It runs along the south side of Hyde Park, London, continuing as Kensington Road to both the east and west....
, which contains a large number of educational and cultural sites, including

and the following, which were originally institutions in their own right:

Institutions formerly in Albertopolis include:

The area was purchased by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851
Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851

Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 is an institution founded in 1850 to administer the international exhibition of 1851, officially called the Great Exhibition, held in The Crystal Palace in London, England....
 with the profits made from the Great Exhibition of 1851, which was held in a site in Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London

Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, England and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine ....
 nearby to the north-east.






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Royalalberthall
Albertopolis is a nickname for the area centered around South Kensington
South Kensington

South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....
, London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, between Cromwell Road
Cromwell Road

Cromwell Road is a major road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, and is designated part of the A4 road . It was created in the 19th century and is named after Oliver Cromwell....
 and Kensington Gore
Kensington Gore

Kensington Gore is a street in central London, England, the same name having been formerly used for the piece of land on which it stands. It runs along the south side of Hyde Park, London, continuing as Kensington Road to both the east and west....
, which contains a large number of educational and cultural sites, including
  • Imperial College London
    Imperial College London

    Imperial College London is a United Kingdom university in London that focuses primarily on science, engineering, medicine and business.Imperial is regularly placed in the top three in the Times National University League Table along with Oxford and Cambridge....
  • Natural History Museum
    Natural History Museum

    The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
  • Royal Albert Hall
    Royal Albert Hall

    The Royal Albert Hall is an arts venue situated in the Knightsbridge area of the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
  • Royal College of Art
    Royal College of Art

    The Royal College of Art is a university in London, England, United Kingdom. It is the world?s only wholly postgraduate art and design institution, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy....
  • Royal College of Music
    Royal College of Music

    The Royal College of Music is a college or university school of music located in the South Kensington district of London, England, and historically one of the most influential music institutions in Europe....
  • Royal Geographical Society
    Royal Geographical Society

    The Royal Geographical Society is a United Kingdom learned society founded in 1830 with the name Geographical Society of London for the advancement of geographical sciences, under the patronage of William IV of the United Kingdom....
  • Science Museum
    Science Museum (London)

    The Science Museum on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London is part of the National Museum of Science and Industry. The museum is a major London tourist attraction....
  • Victoria and Albert Museum
    Victoria and Albert Museum

    The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million Object ....
  • Albert Memorial
    Albert Memorial

    The Albert Memorial is situated in Kensington Gardens, London, England, directly to the north of the Royal Albert Hall. It was commissioned by Victoria of the United Kingdom in memory of her beloved husband, Albert, Prince Consort who died of typhoid in 1861....


and the following, which were originally institutions in their own right:
  • Geological Museum
    Geological Museum

    The Geological Museum is one of the oldest single science museums in the world and now part of the Natural History Museum in London. It transferred from Jermyn Street to Exhibition Road, South Kensington in 1935 in a building designed by Sir Richard Allison and John Hatton Markham of the Office of Works....
    , now a subsidiary of the Natural History Museum
  • Royal School of Mines
    Royal School of Mines

    Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering , and Materials Science at Imperial College London....
    , now a subsidiary of Imperial College


Institutions formerly in Albertopolis include:
  • Royal College of Organists
    Royal College of Organists

    The Royal College of Organists or RCO, is an educational body of the United Kingdom. Its role is to promote organ and Choir music and it offers Music education for organists and choral directors....
    , from 1904 to 1991.
  • Royal School of Naval Architecture
    Royal School of Naval Architecture

    The Royal School of Naval Architecture or Royal School of Naval Architecture and Engineering was an institution founded in Albertopolis in 1864 to train naval architects....
    , from 1864 to 1873.
  • Royal School of Needlework
    Royal School of Needlework

    The Royal School of Needlework is a London hand embroidery school founded in 1872.The School is based at Hampton Court Palace and is engaged in textile restoration and conservation, as well as training professional embroiderers through 3-year apprenticeships....
    , from 1903 to 1987.
  • Imperial Institute, later Commonwealth Institute, from 1893 to 1962


The area was purchased by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851
Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851

Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 is an institution founded in 1850 to administer the international exhibition of 1851, officially called the Great Exhibition, held in The Crystal Palace in London, England....
 with the profits made from the Great Exhibition of 1851, which was held in a site in Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London

Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, England and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine ....
 nearby to the north-east. This is commemorated in the name of the principal north-south street laid out on their estate, Exhibition Road
Exhibition Road

Exhibition Road is a street in South Kensington, London, England. It is named after the Great Exhibition of 1851 held in Hyde Park, London to the north....
.

Prince Albert was a driving force behind the Great Exhibition and President of the Royal Commission, and the name "Albertopolis" seems to have been coined in the 1850s to celebrate and somewhat satirise his role in Victorian cultural life. After his death the term fell into disuse, and the area was more widely referred to as South Kensington
South Kensington

South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....
. It was revived by architectural historians in the 1960s and popularised by the nascent conservation
Historic preservation

Historic preservation or heritage conservation is a professional endeavor that seeks to preserve the ability of older objects to communicate an intended meaning....
 movement to bring attention to the complex of public Victorian buildings and the surrounding houses built on the Commissioners' estate, that were threatened with demolition by the expansion and redevelopment plans of Imperial College.

There is a central axis between the Albert Memorial
Albert Memorial

The Albert Memorial is situated in Kensington Gardens, London, England, directly to the north of the Royal Albert Hall. It was commissioned by Victoria of the United Kingdom in memory of her beloved husband, Albert, Prince Consort who died of typhoid in 1861....
 in Kensington Gardens
Kensington Gardens

See also Kensington Gardens, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide, AustraliaKensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, is one of the Royal Parks of London, lying immediately to the west of Hyde Park, London....
 to the north, and the central portal of the south façade of the Natural History Museum. The Royal Albert Hall, Royal College of Music, the former tower of the otherwise demolished Imperial Institute (now the Queen's Tower
Queen's Tower (London)

The Queen's Tower is situated in the South Kensington Campus of Imperial College London, England. It is 445 feet tall with a copper covered dome at its top....
 of Imperial College London) and the 1950s rear extension to the Science Museum are all aligned on this axis, which cannot be seen on the ground. This regular geometric alignment of Albertopolis can only be observed readily from the balconies of the Queen's Tower (very rarely open to visitors) although the northern part can be glimpsed from the top floor of the Science Museum.

The closest tube station is South Kensington
South Kensington tube station

South Kensington is a London Underground station in Kensington, west London. It is served by the District Line, Circle line and Piccadilly Line lines....
 which is linked to the museums by a tiled tunnel beneath Exhibition Road constructed in 1885. This tunnel originally continued as a covered route to the south porch of the Royal Albert Hall via a second tunnel (subsequently used for a period as Imperial College's shooting range
Shooting range

A shooting range is a specialized facility designed for firearms practice. Each facility is typically overseen by one or more supervisory personnel, called variously a range master in the United States or a range conducting officer or "RCO" in the UK....
) before emerging into the arcades and conservatory of the former gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society
Royal Horticultural Society

The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha....
.

See also

  • Henry Cole
    Henry Cole

    Sir Henry Cole was a civil servant who facilitated many innovations in commerce and education in 19th century United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland....
  • Charles Wentworth Dilke
    Charles Wentworth Dilke

    Charles Wentworth Dilke , English liberal critic and writer on literature, served for many years in the Navy Pay-Office, on retiring from which he devoted himself to literary pursuits....
  • Exhibition Road
    Exhibition Road

    Exhibition Road is a street in South Kensington, London, England. It is named after the Great Exhibition of 1851 held in Hyde Park, London to the north....
  • Museum Mile, London
    Museum Mile, London

    Museum Mile in London, England, may be:* Museum Mile in Bloomsbury, London Borough of Camden* Albertopolis in South Kensington...
  • Ismaili Centre
    Ismaili Centre

    The Ismaili Centre in South Kensington, London, England, is one of four such centres world-wide. It is concerned with Ismaili culture, religion and social aspects, acting as a community centre and meeting place....
     to the south
  • Serpentine Gallery
    Serpentine Gallery

    The Serpentine Gallery is an art gallery in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, London, central London, which focuses on modern art and contemporary art....
     in Hyde Park to the north


External links