This is a view looking along the walkway on the south bank of the Thames, beneath Blackfriars Bridge. Above is a section of the curved steel girders of the bridge.

The area known as Blackfriars is almost all on the north bank of the River Thames, but includes a sliver on the south bank.

And Blackfriars is within the ancient City of London, the area that includes the Square Mile, as it is called – the financial district of London.

To people unacquainted with the peculiarities of London, there is an area within London that is known as the City Of London.

The City of London is a ‘city within a city’ – and greater London grew up around it.

Because of the age of the City of London, the historic buildings within the boundaries, and because it is the financial district of London proper, it has special privileges (see this article).

The first map here shows the City Of London and to the west of it, the City of Westminster. So that’s two cities within a city…

The second map shows Blackfriars, and as I said, it is within the City of London.

Blackfriars station is on the District and Circle lines, and is an important interchange station, directly over the River Thames with entrances on both sides of the river. It is also a mainline rail station for places north and south of the river.

Blackfriars was named after the Dominican friars who established a priory there in the late 1200s.

There is nothing left of the priory now. What wasn’t destroyed with the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1538 was caught in the Great Fire Of London in 1666.

In the photo at the top of this article you can see the skyscrapers of the City of London, in the distance across the river.

And that brings us to Roberto Calvi, and where he was hanged.

Roberto Calvi

In 1982 the chairman of the failed Banco Ambrosiano, Roberto Calvi, was hanged from the bridge by persons unknown.

There was a scandal at the bank that led to its collapse, and it was said to involve the Vatican and the mafia.

What is known is that Calvi left Italy under a false passport and then the story gets hazy until his body was found hanging from this bridge.

The location of the very public execution, with the view from the bridge that looks out over the City, is probably not by chance.

Of course, several of these skyscrapers were not there in 1982, but built or not, the City has been the financial heart of London since the early 1800s, and for a century or more it was the world’s leading financial centre, and still ranks close behind New York, which is the leader in the rankings today.

I hardly ever pass the bridge or hear the name Blackfriars without thinking about Mr Calvi and his end – and feeling a little sad for him, no matter what his crime.

These are just some of the species of butterflies in the Butterfly House at London Zoo. And it is well worth visiting to see them flying around your head and to see them perched just inches away.

The butterfly at top left in the gallery and then again with folded wings at top middle is a Tree Nymph. At top right is a Lime butterfly, named because it eats the leaves of citrus species.

Then below left is a Rusty tipped Page, named ‘Page’ because its opened wings look like the opened pages of a book. Well, that’s what they say.

And then bottom left is a Scarlet Mormon.

The original ‘Common Mormon’ was so named because the females appear in multiple forms, a feature known as polymorphism.

That led researchers to jokingly suggest the male had three wives, an allusion to polygamy by the Mormons – as in the sect of humans of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with worldwide headquarters in Salt Lake City.

The name ‘Mormon’ was subsequently used for other similar-looking butterflies in the group, including the Scarlet Mormon.

Click to see bigger versions of the photographs, all of which were taken with an iPhone 16.

The colour of the walls, the angle of the entrance, the canvas on the wall, the shadow on the floor, all attracted me.

What I didn’t know what that I was channelling Mark Rothko because it wasn’t until I went into the room was that it is one of his paintings on that wall.