Where: Mansion House Street, EC4

What: Mansion house is the official residence of Lord Mayors of London. It is one of the grandest surviving georgian town palaces, with magnificent interiors containing elaborate plaster work and carved timber ornament.

The building of Mansion House was first considered after the Great Fire of London in 1666, but the first stone was not laid until 1739 and it was only finished in 1752. It provides not only living and working space for the Lord Mayor and his household, but also room for large ceremonial entertainments and banquets. Until this time the mayors of london had to receive guests and have functions in their own homes.

The fashionable palladian style in which it was built, with a large classical portico, was chosen by the City's Clerk of Works, George Dance the Elder. Built around a central courtyard it contained a cellar, a ground floor for the servants and the kitchen, a grand first floor of offices, dining and reception rooms, including the Egyptian Hall where banquets were held, a second floor with a gallery for dancing and chambers for the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, and a third floor of bedchambers.

The Egyptian Hall was so named because its form was designed to replicate the dining halls used in Egypt in Roman times, with giant columns supporting a narrower attic area. However, there is nothing Egyptian about the decoration, which is classical in style.

Although Mansion House retains much of its original character, there have been changes - one of the most important of which was the covering of the internal courtyard to form what is now known as the Saloon to provide a large reception area.

Mansion House was built to enable the London's Lord Mayor to represent the City in appropriate style, and it continues to fulfil this function more than two centuries later.

Opening times / Admission: Mansion House is open by appointment only. Applications should be made in writing to the Principal Assistant, Mansion House, London EC4N 8BH.

Nearest underground station: Bank

Website: cityoflondon.gov.uk