Once the British Empire’s second city, Liverpool has, since World War Two been in decline. In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in investment with the centre of the city undergoing regeneration. Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture for 2008 throughout the full twelve months there were countless events ranging from music concerts featuring world renowned artists to exciting exhibitions of art. With the European Capital of Culture year over what is there to attract tourists to this exciting city? Well there are many new Liverpool hotels which cater for all tastes. In the article below I take a close look at three tourist attractions in Liverpool.
Tate Liverpool
Located at 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 very popular tourist attraction in Liverpool, seeing over 600,000 visitors through its’ doors every year. The gallery is in one of the 5 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.
Albert Dock
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, whom the docks were named after, opened the docks in 1846. The docks were extremely busy over the years,, but eventually had to close to shipping in 1972. For many years the docks lay derelict and quiet, 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 selection of tourist attractions, including the Merseyside Maritime Museum and the Tate Liverpool.
Liverpool Anglican Cathedral
Liverpool is renowned for having two cathedrals: the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral. When John Charles Rye was assigned Bishop of Liverpool in 1880, ironically Liverpool did not have a cathedral at that time. Whereupon, after a lot of discussion, the powers that be decided that a cathedral was required. In 1902, they chose to hold an open competition for the design of the cathedral. The winning design was chosen in 1903, and astonishingly, was a design by student Giles Gilbert Scott, who had no previous construction experience. Another architect, George F. Bodley, was appointed to work with Scott, and oversee all construction works and designs. King Edward VII laid the foundation stone in 1904, and in 1910, the first part of the cathedral, the Lady Chapel, was finished.
Besides the 3 tourist attractions examined above Liverpool has a great many more. Not only this there are a great many more not too far away, 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 Liverpool hotels and accommodation as well as a selection of unserviced and services apartments in Liverpool.
Tags: city break | destinations | England | Liverpool | travel | uk | United Kingdom | vacation | vacations
