When people think of Nottingham, most people’s first thoughts are of the legend of Robin Hood, a robber who robbed the rich and gave his loot to the poor. These stories have a historical basis: when King Richard the Lionheart of England returned from the Crusades, his rival, the Sheriff of Nottingham, settled in the city.

Nottingham Attractions and Entertainment
The main attraction is Nottingham Castle. It now houses a museum with an exhibition telling the city’s history. A monument to the legendary champion of justice, Robin Hood, stands at the castle gates. Sherwood Forest, where, according to legend, Robin and his companions lived, is now a park.

Also worth seeing:

• the Gothic Church of St. Barnabas (1841-1844),
• the Renaissance palace of Wollaton Hall, surrounded by a picturesque park,
• the “City of Caves” with an exhibition about the conditions under which people worked in the underground labyrinths,
• Nottingham’s largest medieval church, St. Mary the Virgin,
• the Galleries of Justice—a museum of crime and punishment,
• the Town Hall, built between 1927 and 1929, in the neo-Baroque style.

The building is crowned by a 61-meter-high dome and rises majestically above Old Market Square.

In the surrounding area
50 kilometers from Nottingham lies the limestone canyon of Creswell Crags. Caves inhabited by people during the last Ice Age have been discovered in its rocky cliffs. Cave paintings made by ancient people have been discovered here.
Newstead Abbey, 18 km from Nottingham, is a popular tourist destination. It is the ancestral home of the poet George Gordon Byron. Byron’s tomb is located in a church in the nearby town of Hucknall.