The old city of Liverpool, with its narrow streets and mansions, has disappeared, and the modern city can rival London in elegance. Its buildings imitate the Italian Renaissance style. However, next to the wide Dale, Bord, Castle, Lord, Scotland road, there are still strangled alleys, dead ends and courtyards, often with vaulted access. The irregular square of Lime hill, where St. George's Hall stands, a vast edifice for meetings of all kinds, is seen as the centre of the city; it was built from 1841 to 1855 by Elmes, in the shape of a Greek temple; it measures 183 m by 52 m; the western portico is adorned with sixteen Corinthian columns of 14 m high; in the centre, the large hall is 50 m long, 27 m wide and 23 m high. The monuments of Stephenson, Prince Albert and Victoria, the Wellington Column (41 m) are next. The Town Hall, built in 1754, was rebuilt in the Corinthian style by Foster (1795) with a Corinthian portico and a 32-metre high dome; the Stock Exchange is contiguous and forms the other three sides of a square. It is of Renaissance style with dome; between these two palaces is a square with arcades and Nelson's monument. Along Dale Street is the Municipal Offices (Municipal offices), with its 61 m high tower. The Revenue Building, next to the docks, erects its 142 m façade and dome.
None of the 150 churches in Liverpool has any architectural value. The oldest is Saint-Nicholas; Saint-George replaces the fort of Henry II, it was rebuilt in 1810. Major works were carried out in the 19th century to supply the population with drinking water; the first aqueduct starts from Rivington, 32 km to the north; the second from Lake Bala (Wales), at the source of the Vyrnwy, tributary of the Severn River; it is 108 km long, by Oswestry and Prescot.
Liverpool has for a long time been almost exclusively a trading place, England's major export port, the outlet of the factories in Lancashire and Yorkshire, i. e. the manufacturing district which remained the largest manufacturing district on the planet for several decades. It was also the import port for Irish products (meat, butter, canvas) and those of the United States (cotton, tobacco, oil). The main industry in the past was shipbuilding; machinery manufacturing and metallurgy developed alongside it. The city, already in decline since the 1950s, suffered greatly from deindustrialization in the 1980s. It has since undergone a revival, especially thanks to the development of the services sector, and particularly tourism, which is itself closely linked to a vigorous policy of promoting the cultural heritage of Liverpool.
Things to do in Liverpool
Cultural Liverpool
Liverpool has a rich architectural heritage with buildings from the 16th century to the present day. No fewer than 2,500 buildings are now classified as part of the national heritage, including an exceptional number of Georgian-style houses.
But Liverpool's rich cultural heritage does not stop there, as the city is also home to a large number of museums and art galleries, several theatres and concert halls, not to mention the three major local universities.
Warm Liverpool
Visiting Liverpool also means confronting the kindness and hospitality of its inhabitants, who will always be happy to make you discover their city and rediscover the world in front of a pint of beer. It will be impossible for you to get bored between concerts, football matches and festivals of all kinds organised throughout the year in Liverpool.
Sefton Park
Extremely popular with locals and visitors alike, Sefton Park offers a veritable green setting on nearly 80 hectares. Relax on its beautiful lawns or climb aboard a boat to meet the ducks and swans that populate the lake. During your walk, don't miss the beautifully restored glass panel building of the Palm House.
Liverpool One
The latest addition to Liverpool's shopping malls is a collection of nearly 160 international brand boutiques (American Apparel, Apple and Monsoon), restaurants and numerous cafés in a state-of-the-art building overlooked by a pretty garden covering nearly 20,000 square metres.
Address: 5 Wall St, Liverpool.
Website: www.liverpool-one.com
Opening hours: Open Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 8pm, Saturday from 9am to 7pm and Sunday from 11am to 5pm.
Local gastronomy
Liverpool's cuisine is based on the great classics of English gastronomy, unjustly disliked by Europeans and in particular the French...
You will find, for example, the copious English breakfasts based on eggs, bacon, sausages, white beans and toast, or the porridge, very much appreciated by locals. Next, the must-have meat pies, fish and chips and bangers (sausages) are served throughout the day in traditional taverns and restaurants.
When it comes to sweet treats, don't miss the famous jelly, puddings, apple pies, cheesecakes, muffins and scones, accompanied of course by a good cup of tea!
Underwater Street
Located on the quays of Liverpool, this underground attraction offers children aged 2 to 10 years 6 dedicated spaces, workshops of manual work and shows every 20 minutes. While your toddlers are having fun on the climbing wall or in the giant bubbles, you can have a coffee or snack in the parents' area.
Mathew Street
A true nerve centre of the "Beatlesmania", Mathew Street is home to many emblematic places such as the famous Cavern Club where the "Fab Four" performed in the early 1960s, before meeting the success that we know.
It's also the Cavern Club that organizes today the Magical Mystery Tours on board a pretty psychedelic bus, following in the footsteps of the Beatles: Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, the childhood homes of John Lennon and Paul Mc Cartney, you'll learn all about the terrible children of Liverpool.
Mathew Street is also home to several bars and pubs with names reminiscent of the Beatles, although The Grapes is the only one they actually frequented, as well as shops where you will find all the Beatles' products with the image of the possible and imaginable Beatles.
Finally, also located on Mathew Street, the CavernWalks shopping mall is one of the most visited by liverpuldians.
The cathedrals
Liverpool is not home to one but two exceptional cathedrals: the Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King and the Anglican Cathedral Church of Christ. Although the former is rather modern, both in terms of its date of construction and its architectural style, the Anglican cathedral, more austere, is one of the largest buildings built in the 20th century.
Indeed, the country's largest cathedral in terms of surface area, it is also the 6th largest in the world. You will see one of the largest bells in the world and an exceptional panorama of the city of Liverpool.
Lime Street
The main artery of the city, Lime Street is also an old street used by prostitutes. Today, we enjoy a stroll to discover the impressive neoclassical building of St. George's Hall, dating from 1854, whose interior can now be visited to better appreciate the magnificence of this building.
Lime Street is also home to other beautiful buildings such as the American Bar, the Vines and the Adelphi Hotel, all three witnesses to a bygone era.
Albert Dock
Built between 1841 and 1848, the Albert Dock remained dilapidated for a long time until its recent rehabilitation, which made it possible to make the waters navigable and to install many interesting sites, restaurants and shops. You will find the famous Merseyside Maritime Museum telling the maritime history of the city, the Tate Liverpool with the most important collection of modern art outside London, a museum dedicated to the Beatles, and the Museum of Liverpool Life honouring the great men of Liverpool.
Heading north on the Pierhead side, don't miss the superb Port of Liverpool Building, the Cunard Building and the Royal Liver Building.
Walker Art Galley
Home to the largest collection of works of art in the kingdom outside London, the Walker Art Gallery is a veritable cultural jewel opened in 1877. Named after patron Sir Andrew Barclay Walker, the museum houses impressive collections of Italian and Dutch schools from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, British 18th and 19th century art, drawings and prints from the 20th century, and an extensive collection of sculptures.
You can admire works by great masters such as Rembrandt, Degas, Poussin, Lucian Freud or David Hockney.
If you have the opportunity, feel free to visit the nearby World Museum and the William Brown Library.
Football in Liverpool
The most successful city in the English league, Liverpool is home to two legendary football clubs, Liverpool FC and Everton, which together have won 27 leagues. Indeed, Liverpool have always been represented in the Premier League by one of the two clubs within 2 kilometers of each other. Built in 1882, Anfield Stadium was originally the home of local rivals Liverpool FC's Everton club. As a result of rent problems, Everton's management finally decided in 1892 to move to Goodison Park. Today, and since the late 1890s, Anfield has been the official stadium of Liverpool FC, which regularly plays against a maximum of 45,362 spectators. FC Liverpool fans and football fans will be able to quench their thirst for knowledge by visiting Anfield during the day. Liverpool FC offer guided tours and more unusual experiences such as training or sharing a breakfast with club legends. A museum to discover the history of the Liverpool FC stadium and club is also available for £8.50 per adult and £6 per child.
The history of Liverpool
The name Liverpul or Litherpool appears for the first time in 1190 under the reign of Richard I. Jean sans Terre, seeing the port of Chester silting up, founded here a castle, then a town to which he gave a charter (1209). Henry III made it a free village or town (borough) in 1229. It did not grow quickly, because under Edward III he was asked for a fleet of 700 ships and 14,141 sailors, only one boat with six sailors. It passed into the hands of Lancastre's house and was united to the crown with its estates. Under Elizabeth I, it had only 1500 inhabitants. In 1644, the inhabitants, behind their wall of earth, bravely resisted the royalists of Prince Robert who looted them. Then came plague and famine. The revolution of 1688 marked the beginning of Liverpool's fortune. In 1699, when it was erected as a separate diocese, it already had 5000 inhabitants. In 1709, Thomas Steer dug the first dock. The Utrecht Treaties enriched the city and became the centre of the slave trade. Mersey's slave farmers make huge profits, opening up markets for their trade in iron, steel and woollen goods for export; rum, sugar and tobacco, which they bring back from the West Indies; human cattle make even more profits in 11 years; they transport 304,000 blacks to the West Indies. In 1765, there were 86 slave merchants in the city; in 1807, the slave trade employed 185 ships carrying 45,750 slaves annually. The traders were skillful enough not to limit themselves to this traffic, so that its interruption was not very detrimental to Liverpool, especially as it coincided with the expansion of English factories. Arrested to Asia by the Indian Company's monopoly, traders turned to the United States; they were able to resist the "cotton famine", which resulted from the Civil War, through arms sales and smuggling with the Confederates. The movement of the harbour entrances was in 1800 of 450,000 tons. Up to that time, nearly 40% of world trade was still transiting the Liverpool docks.
