The Temple area is one of the main legal districts in London and a notable centre for English law, both historically and in the present day. The Temple area of the City of London consists of the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple, which are two of the four Inns of Court and act as local authorities in place of the City of London Corporation within their areas.
Temple gives its name to Temple tube station, served by the District (green) and Circle (yellow) lines, which is situated in the southwest of the area, between Temple Place and the Victoria Embankment. There is also a Temple Pier on the Victoria Embankment, situated near the Tube station immediately upstream of the Westminster-City of London boundary; HQS Wellington is permanently moored there.
The Temple was originally the precinct of the Knights Templar whose Temple Church was named in honour of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. The Knights had two halls, whose modern successors are the Middle Temple Hall and the Inner Temple Hall. Only the Inner Temple Hall preserves elements of the medieval hall on the site, however (namely, the medieval Buttery).
The Royal Courts of Justice are just to the north and Temple tube station is located to the west in the City of Westminster. The wider Temple area is roughly bound by the River Thames (the Victoria Embankment) to the south, Surrey Street to the west, Strand and Fleet Street to the north, and Carmelite Street and Whitefriars Street to the east.
It contains many barristers' chambers, solicitors' offices, as well as some notable legal institutions such as the Employment Appeal Tribunal. The International Institute for Strategic Studies has its headquarters at Arundel House.