Leicester Square and Cinemas

A lively cultural hub in central London, Leicester Square is dotted with a popular array of shops, bars, theatres and cinemas. Along with high-profile stores such as the Lego outlet and M&M’s World, the square is also ideally situated next to Chinatown.

Originally laid out and developed in the late 17th century, Leicester Square has always been an affluent and prosperous part of the city. The area has accommodated some fairly famous faces over the years including William Hogarth, Joshua Reynolds and German socialist revolutionary, Karl Marx.

However, these days, Leicester Square is most well-known for its well-loved selection of cinemas. The Odeon Leicester Square regularly hosts extravagant film premiers and the Empire offers a more historic venue for film-buffs. The Prince Charles Cinema has also become something of a paradise for cult film lovers.

• It has been claimed that the distance between Leicester Square tube station and Covent Garden tube station is the shortest on the entire TFL network, measuring just 260 metres.
  
• In the Prince Charles Cinema, there is a toilet cubicle named after cult film director, Kevin Smith.
  
• It is believed that the legendary actor, Michael Caine had to quickly come up with his stage name in a phone box in Leicester Square. The name he was given at birth was actually Maurice Joseph Micklewhite.
  
• The square was once home to the Swiss Centre, a 14-storey building dedicated to all things Switzerland-related. Eventually demolished in 2008, the only remaining part of the cultural centre is the Glockenspiel which can be found in the northwest of the square.