Vacations In England And 3 Worthwhile Tourist Attractions to Visit In Or Around Liverpool

Liverpool, at one-time the second city of the British Empire, has, since the Second World War been in decline. In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in investment with the city centre witnessing regeneration. In 2008 Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture all through the year there were numerous events ranging from music concerts by world renowned musicians and singers to exciting exhibitions of art. No longer the European Capital of Culture what is there to attract visitors to this lively city? Well there are many new Liverpool hotels to satisfy all tastes. In the text below I take a look at 3 visitor attractions in Liverpool.

Liverpool Anglican Cathedral

Liverpool is celebrated for having two cathedrals: the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral and the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. When John Charles Rye was appointed Bishop of Liverpool in 1880, ironically there was no cathedral in Liverpool as that time. Eventually, after a lot of deliberation, the powers that be agreed that a cathedral was essential. In 1902, they decided to hold an open competition for the design of the cathedral. The winning design was chosen in 1903, and surprisingly, was a design by student Giles Gilbert Scott, who had no preceding building experience. Another architect, George F. Bodley, was assigned 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 finished.

Albert Dock

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, whom the docks were named after, opened the docks in 1846. The docks were extremely busy over Over the years, but regretably they eventually were forced 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 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 space of time, was the largest gallery of contemporary and modern art in the United Kingdom, besides London. The Tate is a very popular visitor attraction in Liverpool, seeing in excess of 600,000 visitors through its’ doors each 12 months. 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.

Besides the 3 visitor attractions mentioned above Liverpool has a great many more. Besides 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 Liverpool hotels and accommodation as well as a selection of serviced and unserviced apartments in Liverpool.