Interesting facts about Liverpool

liverpool

Liverpool is a city and a metropolitan district of Merseyside in the North West England.

The city is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey.

As of January 2020, the population of Liverpool is about 500,000 people. It is the 9th largest city in England. Liverpool’s metropolitan area is the 5th-largest in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.25 million.

The city covers a total area of 112 square kilometers (43 square miles).

The average altitude is 70 meters (230 feet) above sea level.

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The name comes from the Old English lifer, meaning thick or muddy water, and pōl, meaning a pool or creek, and is first recorded around 1190 as Liuerpul. According to the Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, “The original reference was to a pool or tidal creek now filled up into which two streams drained”.

The first significant date in the history of Liverpool is 1207, when King John of England granted a charter for a planned new town there.

The town’s medieval growth was slow, but in the 18th century it expanded rapidly as a result of profitable trade with the Americas and the West Indies and became the second most important port in Britain.

liverpool history

In 1830, Liverpool and Manchester became the first cities to have an intercity rail link, through the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.

In the 19th century, it was a major port of departure for English and Irish emigrants to North America.

The city is the birthplace of the famous rock group The Beatles and the musical style Merseybeat.

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The docklands and several areas of the historic centre of the city collectively were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004.

The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007 and was named the 2008 European Capital of Culture, which it shared with the Norwegian city of Stavanger.

The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City is a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site in Liverpool, England. It comprises six locations in the city centre of Liverpool including the Pier Head, Albert Dock and William Brown Street, and includes many of the city’s most famous landmarks.

liverpool maritime mercantile city

The Royal Albert Dock is a complex of dock buildings and warehouses in Liverpool. Designed by Jesse Hartley and Philip Hardwick, it was opened in 1846, and was the first structure in Britain to be built from cast iron, brick and stone, with no structural wood. As a result, it was the first non-combustible warehouse system in the world. Today, the Royal Albert Dock is a major tourist attraction in the city and the most visited multi-use attraction in the United Kingdom, outside London. It is a vital component of Liverpool’s UNESCO designated World Heritage Maritime Mercantile City.

royal albert dock

The Pier Head is part of the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile Citya. It is a collection of landmark buildings, recreational open space, and a number of memorials. It was (and for some traffic still is) the landing site for passenger ships travelling to and from the city.

pier head

The Beatles Story is a museum in Liverpool about the Beatles and their history. It is located on the Royal Albert Dock. The Beatles Story was opened on 1 May 1990. The Beatles Story contains recreations of The Casbah Coffee Club, The Cavern Club and Abbey Road Studios among other historical Beatles items, such as John Lennon’s spectacles, George Harrison’s first guitar and a detailed history about the British Invasion and the solo careers of every Beatle.

the beatles story

Liverpool Cathedral is the Church of England Cathedral of the Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James’s Mount in Liverpool and is the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. It may be referred to as the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool (as recorded in the Document of Consecration) or the Cathedral Church of the Risen Christ, Liverpool, being dedicated to Christ ‘in especial remembrance of his most glorious Resurrection’. Liverpool Cathedral is the largest cathedral and religious building in Britain.

liverpool cathedral

World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a planetarium. The museum is part of National Museums Liverpool.

world museum

The Cavern Club is a nightclub at 10 Mathew Street, Liverpool. The club opened on 16 January 1957 as a jazz club, later becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the early 1960s. The club became closely associated with the Merseybeat music genre and, famously, regularly played host to The Beatles in their early years.

cavern club

The Merseyside Maritime Museum is a museum based in the city of Liverpool. It opened for a trial season in 1980 before fully opening in 1984. The museum occupies warehouse block D at the Albert Dock, along with the Piermaster’s House, Canning Half Tide Dock and Canning Graving Docks.

merseyside maritime museum

Liverpool is the seventh most visited city in the UK.

The city has the second highest number of art galleries, national museums, and listed buildings in the UK; only the capital, London, has more.

There are two famous football clubs, Liverpool F.C. and Everton F.C.

The city is home to the oldest black community in the UK and the oldest Chinese community in Europe.

Natives and residents of the city of Liverpool are referred to formally as Liverpudlians, but most often as Scousers, a reference to “scouse”, a form of stew. The word “Scouse” has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect.