Crystal Palace

a building erected at Sydenham, a southern suburb of London, in 1854. It was built of materials from the buildings of the great exhibition of 1851. The name is derived from the great quantity of glass used in the construction. The building is 1,600 feet long, 380 feet wide, and 200 feet high at the center. It cost about $4,500,000. It is now devoted to sculpture, architecture, painting, natural history, fossils, and manufactured articles. The building is surrounded by grounds, comprising 200 acres, adorned with trees, walks, statues, fountains, and flower gardens. The whole constitutes an instructive combination of park and museum. See Exhibition; Skyscraper