Vacations in the English town of Liverpool And Three Top Class Tourist Attractions to Visit
Liverpool, at one-time the second city of the British Empire, has, since World War Two been in decline. In recent years there has been a marked increase in investment with the city centre witnessing regeneration. In 2008 Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture throughout the full twelve months there were numerous events ranging from world class music concerts to unique art exhibitions. No longer the European Capital of Culture what is there to draw visitors to this exciting city? Well there are certainly a number of new hotels in Liverpool catering for all tastes. In the text below I take a close look at 3 visitor attractions in Liverpool.
Liverpool Anglican Cathedral
Liverpool is renowned for having two cathedrals: the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral and the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. When John Charles Rye was assigned Bishop of Liverpool in 1880, ironically there was no cathedral in Liverpool as that time. Whereupon, after a lot of debate the powers that be decided that a cathedral was needed. In 1902, they chose to hold an open competition for the design of the cathedral. The winning proposal was chosen in 1903, and surprisingly, was a design by student Giles Gilbert Scott, who had no former building experience. Another architect, George F. Bodley, was appointed to work with Scott, and oversee all designs and building works. King Edward VII laid the foundation stone in 1904, and in 1910, the first part of the cathedral, the Lady Chapel, was completed.
Albert Dock
Liverpool’s Albert Dock was named after Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, who opened the docks in 1846. The docks were very busy over the years, but regretably they had to close to shipping in 1972. For many years the docks lay quiet and derelict, until the 1980’s when they were redeveloped with funding from the Merseyside Development Corporation. The dock consisted of five warehouse buildings, all of which are Grade I listed, making the Albert Dock complex the largest set of Grade I listed building in the United Kingdom. The docks are now home to a variety of tourist attractions, including the Merseyside Maritime Museum and the Tate Liverpool.
Tate Liverpool
Located on the Liverpool’s waterfromt, as part of the Albert Dock complex, is Tate Liverpool. Since opening in 1988, the Tate, for a short time, was the largest gallery of contemporary and modern art in the United Kingdom, besides London. The Tate is a highly popular visitor attraction in Liverpool, catering for more than 600,000 visitors through its’ doors each twelve months. The gallery is in one of the five converted warehouses orignally converted by James Stirling. However, the building had to undergo further refurbishment in1988 to create more gallery space. In 2007 the foyer was redesigned, giving the gallery a more modern appearance and better proportions in the reception area.
As well as the 3 visitor attractions examined above Liverpool has a great many more. As well as this there are many, many more not too far away from the city, perfect for a day visit. If you are planning to spend time in Liverpool you may wish to take a look at our web site which has a comprehensive list of bed & breakfasts in Liverpool as well as a selection of serviced and unserviced apartments in Liverpool.
