Islington

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Islington (Greater London)
Islington
Islington
Location of Islington in Greater London

Islington [ ˈɪzlɪŋtən ] is a district in North London , United Kingdom. It is part of the London Borough of Islington and extends from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, around Upper Street. The name is sometimes also used for the areas that are close to Upper Street, e.g. B. Barnsbury and Canonbury .

character

Shop in Camden Passage
Street scene in Islington
Regent's Canal in Islington

Islington has become a popular residential area for the affluent middle class over the past few decades. In the somewhat hidden Camden Passage there are antique and junk shops. But even vintage clothing , art supplies, graphics, prints, photographs of rock stars of previous years and organic food you can get in Islington.

There are many small restaurants, especially around the Angel underground station. There is also a theater (above a pub), The Old Red Lion Theater , in which smaller, independent productions can be seen, as well as various clubs, including the Double Club designed by Carsten Höller , which add to western and Congolese culture and art of living connect seeks.

history

Henry VIII owned a few hunting lodges in this once idyllic village, but as early as the 19th century it was known for its shops, theaters and music halls. Regent's Canal was built around 1820, and that meant the arrival of industrial slums in Islington. It became one of the poorest parts of London. In the past few decades, however, Islington has been gentrified , so that it is now very attractive to residents with its Georgian squares and Victorian houses.

etymology

The area that is now Islington was originally called Giseldone (1005), which means "the dune (hill) of Gisla". Gisla is an old English given name. Around 1062 the name changed to Gislandune (1062), later to Isledon , which was used until the 17th century when what is now Islington became established .

Mentions in arts and literature

Islington is mentioned frequently in contemporary English literature and films.

  • Douglas Adams lived in Islington and often used it as a location for his novels. He named one of his famous The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy character after a local real estate agent Hotblack Desiato .
  • In Neil Gaiman's novel Never Land , Islington is an angel who lives below London (angel means "angel" in English, just like the local tube station ).
  • The detective inspector jury in the novels of Martha Grimes lives in a house in Islington.
  • The play Otherwise Engaged by the playwright Simon Gray is set in Islington.
  • In the comic opera The Zoo , composed by Arthur Sullivan , two of the main characters are the "Duke of Islington" and his mistress, whom he asks to become the Duchess of Islington.
  • Nick Hornby's book and later film About a Boy and his novel SLAM are set in Islington.
  • The film Diary of a Scandal based on the novel by Zoë Heller is set in Islington.
  • The song Fugazi (1984) by Marillion mentions the district as follows: The thief of Baghdad hides in Islington now - Praying deportation for his sacred cow .
  • Parts of the Harry Potter series are set in Islington. This is where the headquarters of the “Order of the Phoenix” is located, at “Grimmauldplatz No. 12”. "Claremont Square" was used as the location for the Harry Potter films , although some recordings were made in the studio.
  • Islington is also mentioned in the books by James Bowen , e.g. B. in "Bob the Stray" and "Bob and how he sees the world".

Nearby places

traffic

Islington is easily accessible by public transport. Angel underground station is an important transfer point for buses.

Nearby underground stations:

Nearby train stations :

Individual evidence

  1. ^ AD Mills: Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names . Oxford University Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0198609575 .
  2. ^ A b Time Out: London . Time Out Group Ltd, 2007, p. 161.
  3. ^ 'Islington: Growth', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 9-19

Coordinates: 51 ° 31 ′ 58 ″  N , 0 ° 6 ′ 22 ″  W.