For over 900 years, the Tower of London has served as aloyal __1__

palace and fortress. Today, it's famous for its bloody history and

for being the place where the Crown Jewels are kept.But it hasserved

for other purposes, too. It has been the royal arsenal, royalmint, __2__

royal observatory or even the royal zoo. The site of the Towerwas __3__

originally part of the Roman city of Londinium.

But, in 1066, a foreigner from north west France became King William __4__

of Britain, he ordered that a wooden castle built on the banks of __5__

the river Thames. The purpose of this fortress was to help secure

London, the most important city in his view realm. Ten years later,

William had the fortress rebuild in stone, and created a great __6__

fortified palace with walls three metre thick. Today, this building __7__

is known as the White Tower, and it stands in the centre of a much

larger stone fortress, which was built during later centuries. The

Tower now covers the area of seven hectares, and it stands near the __8__

busy financial district of the capital. But, once inside the high stone

walls, it's easy to forget the modern world outside and to take a

trip back through history. To help visitors explore, there are special

ceremonial guards, called Yeoman Warders. They are also known as

Beefeaters, and they are the best resource of information about the __9__

Tower's history. Nearly 40 Yeoman live and work in the Tower.

They are former soldiers who earned the privilege of serving as __10__

Yeoman after long service.