London - Lombard Street

Lombard Street (named after the moneylenders from Lombardy who had their houses here in the 13th century) has been London's banking and financial center since medieval times. The street is of interest not so much for its 19th and 20th century buildings, as for the bank signs hanging above the pavement - continuing a tradition dating from the Middle Ages, when illiteracy was rife and the bankers' customers were able to identify them only by their heraldic emblems.