Editing Piccadilly Circus (section)

{{short description|Road junction and public place in London, England}}
{{for|the song|Piccadilly Circus (song)}}
{{other uses|Piccadilly (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox road junction
|country=GBR
|road_type=Street
|name=Piccadilly Circus
|image=Open Happiness Piccadilly Circus Blue-Pink Hour 120917-1126-jikatu.jpg
|image_caption=Piccadilly Circus in 2012
|image_size=300px
|other_names=
|location=[[London]], [[United Kingdom]]
|coord={{Coord|51|30|36|N|0|8|4|W|region:GB_type:landmark_dim:20km|display=title,inline}}
|roads=[[Regent Street]], [[Piccadilly]], [[Shaftesbury Avenue]], [[The Haymarket]], [[Coventry Street]] and Glasshouse Street
|type=Road junction
|const=
|opened=1819
|height=
|maint= 
|tolls=
|map=
}}
'''Piccadilly Circus''' is a [[road junction]] and public space of [[London]]'s [[West End of London|West End]] in the [[City of Westminster]].  It was built in 1819 to connect [[Regent Street]] with [[Piccadilly]]. In this context, a ''[[List of road junctions in the United Kingdom|circus]]'', from the Latin word meaning "circle", is a round open space at a street junction.<ref>"circus", [[Oxford English Dictionary]] 2nd Edition 1989</ref>

The Circus now connects Piccadilly, Regent Street, [[Shaftesbury Avenue]], [[the Haymarket]], [[Coventry Street]] (onwards to [[Leicester Square]]) and Glasshouse Street. It is close to major shopping and entertainment areas in the West End. Its status as a major traffic junction has made Piccadilly Circus a busy meeting place and a tourist attraction in its own right. The Circus is particularly known for its video display and [[Neon lighting|neon]] signs mounted on the corner building on the northern side, as well as the [[Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain]] and statue of [[Anteros]] (which is popularly, though mistakenly, believed to be of [[Eros]]).

It is surrounded by several notable buildings, including the [[London Pavilion]] and [[Criterion Theatre]]. Underneath the plaza is [[Piccadilly Circus tube station|Piccadilly Circus station]], part of the [[London Underground]] system.