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Buildings & Curiosities

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Belfast Blitz Memorial Plaque

Belfast Blitz Memorial Plaque
On the corner of the Belfast Telegraph building, a small section of pockmarked stone provides a tangible reminder of the 1941 Belfast Blitz. Read_on (No Comments)

Belfast City Hall

Belfast City Hall
A magnificent sight, especially when viewed from Royal Avenue, this imposing Portland stone and copper-domed building was completed in 1906 as a symbol of Belfast's new city status. Read_on (No Comments)

Clifton House

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Built by the Belfast Charitable Society in 1774, this Georgian 'Poor House' has been gloriously restored and now combines sheltered accomodation and a residential home with a year-round programme of events and conferences. Read_on (No Comments)

Commercial Court

Commercial Court
This tiny cobbled Cathedral Quarter alleyway is one of the city's most historic entries. As the name suggests, the area was Read_on (No Comments)

Crumlin Road Gaol and Courthouse

Crumlin Road Gaol and Courthouse
These foreboding buildings, facing each other across North Belfast's Crumlin Road, are connected by an underground tunnel once used to spirit prisoners from the Gaol to the Courthouse for trial - and back if convicted. Read_on (17 Comments)

George Best mural, Cregagh Estate

George Best mural, Cregagh Estate
It seems Belfast can't have too many George Best murals. The latest - and third - depicts Best in Northern Ireland attire at the height of his footballing prowess. Read_on (1 Comment)

George Best's House

George Best's House
Tucked away in this housing estate is George's childhood home... the only give-away being the plaque above the front door. Read_on (1 Comment)

Harland & Wolff Cranes

Harland & Wolff Cranes
Wherever you go in the city there's no escaping Samson and Goliath, two giant, moveable yellow cranes looming over what was once the world's biggest shipyard. Read_on (1 Comment)

Obel

Obel
Belfast's big skyscraper is 85m high, has 28 storeys above ground (and two below for car parking) and is the island of Ireland's tallest building. Read_on (No Comments)

Scottish Provident Building

Scottish Provident Building
City Hall is surrounded by some grand old historic buildings, and this is undoubtedly one of the most impressive. Opened in 1902, Read_on (No Comments)

St. George's Market

St. George's Market
As gastro tourism goes, St. George's City Food & Garden Market (Sat, 09:00-15:00) is about as tasty as they come, and an absolute must on any epicurean's shopping list. Read_on (No Comments)

Stormont Estate and Parliament Building

Stormont Estate and Parliament Building
This imposing, purpose-built structure is inextricably linked with the political history of NI. Made of Portland stone mounted Read_on (5 Comments)

Albert Memorial Clock

Albert Memorial Clock
Belfast's most prominent timepiece was built from 1865-1870 in memory of Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, who died in 1862. Read_on (No Comments)

BBC Broadcasting House

BBC Broadcasting House
This six-storey, neo-Georgian landmark building was opened in 1941 and began television broadcasts with the 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Read_on (No Comments)

CS Lewis statue

CS Lewis statue
Stood fittingly outside Holywood Arches Library, this life-size statue is called The Searcher. It depicts the Belfast-born Read_on (1 Comment)

Custom House

Custom House
The chiselled heads of Neptune, Britannia and Mercury gaze down from this stately 1850's Italianite building whose sweeping steps have long been a platform for protests and speeches galvanising the working man. Read_on (No Comments)

David Healy mural

David Healy mural
Windsor Park's 21st Century icon, David Healy, is NI's record goalscorer and patron of the George Best Foundation. Read_on (No Comments)

Friar's Bush Graveyard

Friar's Bush Graveyard
This compact graveyard is surrounded by an 8ft high wall and lies beside the currently closed Ulster Museum. The city's oldest Christian burial site, it got its name from the central hawthorn tree. Read_on (1 Comment)

Lagan Weir

Lagan Weir
The concrete walkway spanning the city's river from the docks to the Odyssey complex is more than a mere footbridge. Built in 1994, the Lagan Weir pioneered riverside rejuvenation by controlling water levels and helping to clean up the dirty old river. Read_on (No Comments)

Old Exchange and Assembly Rooms

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On the junction of Bridge, North, Waring and Rosemary Streets (aka the Four Corners) stands this grand, two-storey 18th Century ediface. Read_on (No Comments)

Pottinger's Entry

Pottinger's Entry
This once delapidated alleyway has undergone a recent facelift as part of Belfast City Centre's ongoing rejuvenation. Read_on (No Comments)

Queen's University

Queen's University
Designed by Charles Lanyon and opened in 1849, this gothic masterpiece is said to be based on Oxford University's Magdalen College. Read_on (No Comments)

Royal Courts of Justice and Laganside Courts

Royal Courts of Justice and Laganside Courts
These opposing buildings, one old and one new, have played a pivotal process in N. Ireland's judicial system, not least through the Troubles. Read_on (No Comments)

Stormont Castle

Stormont Castle
Stormont Castle was built in 1858 in baronial style, complete with turrets, battlements and conical caps. Its flamboyant exterior is said to have inspired that of Scotland's Balmoral Castle. Read_on (3 Comments)

Transport House

Transport House
Late 1950s socialist realism meets post-war Soviet art at the NI HQ of the Transport & General Workers Union (TGWU). Read_on (No Comments)

Van Morrison's House

Van Morrison's House
Belfast's grumpiest son, blues singer Van Morrison, once lived in a two-up, two-down terrace in the east of the city. Read_on (No Comments)