| Glasgow's proximity to Scotland's beautiful Highlands | | | | Lordship, opposite the Museum, which is now |
| and the legendary friendliness and humour of its | | | | Glasgow's oldest house. Once similar houses continued |
| inhabitants are probably the most commonly cited | | | | all the way down High Street towards Glasgow Cross |
| reasons for its position as third most visited city in the | | | | and the imposing 17th century Tolbooth Steeple, which |
| UK (after London and Edinburgh). This overshadows | | | | once greeted travellers arriving along the Gallowgate |
| the fact that Glasgow is without doubt one of the | | | | from Edinburgh. |
| most architecturally remarkable cities in the British Isles. | | | | Much of the centre of the Glasgow we know today |
| From the tall confident early Victorian neoclassical | | | | began to take shape from the 18th century onwards. |
| buildings of the city centre to the 'space-age' Clyde | | | | The so called 'Tobacco Lords' were the first in a long |
| Auditorium (or Armadillo) and Science Centre, | | | | line of entrepreneurs and businessmen to leave their |
| Glasgow's architecture exudes a dynamism which has | | | | mark on the city. Having become extraordinarily |
| emerged from a complex and often dramatic history. | | | | wealthy and powerful re-exporting tobacco from the |
| Glasgow's massive expansion in the 18th and 19th | | | | Americas to the continent, a trade which they all but |
| centuries did much to destroy evidence of early | | | | monopolised until US independence, they fashioned |
| settlement in the area. Nevertheless, what remains is | | | | great mansions and palaces for themselves in what |
| of tremendous interest. Amongst the earliest traces of | | | | became Glasgow's Merchant City, to the west of High |
| inhabitation are the remains of a Roman bathhouse, at | | | | Street. At this time Glasgow was considered by some |
| Bearsden in Greater Glasgow. This is the last visible | | | | to be the most attractive town in the newly formed |
| part of a fortified complex built by the 20th Roman | | | | United Kingdom. |
| Legion on the Antonine Wall, which marked Glasgow | | | | The Tobacco Lords were followed by the first |
| as a dangerous outpost on the northernmost frontier | | | | generations of industrialists, whose pioneering spirit |
| of the empire. | | | | became the foundation of the British Empire. The |
| Nonetheless, it is St Kentigern (or St Mungo) who is | | | | exportation of textiles and later industrial goods |
| usually regarded as being Glasgow's founding father. | | | | required the development of Glasgow's port and led to |
| His journey in the 6th century BC to find the burial | | | | a huge demand for ships. Consequently, Glasgow's era |
| ground, dedicated by St Ninian a century earlier, | | | | as shipbuilding capital of the world began. Glasgow |
| brought him to the green hollow where Glasgow | | | | also became the major supplier of ships for the Royal |
| Cathedral now stands. The small church he built here | | | | Navy and, resultantly, the centre of the empire's |
| became his burial place. The tomb remains the focal | | | | munitions industry. Machine tools, sewing machines and |
| point for one of Scotland's outstanding medieval | | | | locomotives were amongst Glasgow's other |
| buildings, as well as the resting place of one of | | | | specialities. Glasgow became the so called Second |
| northern Europe's most influential missionaries. | | | | City of the Empire and Workshop of the World; the |
| Nonetheless, it was 3 centuries after St Kentigern's | | | | industrial city of the industrial age. |
| death and across the River Clyde at Govan that real | | | | Glasgow's extraordinary success as an industrial giant |
| political power first came to the Glasgow area. The | | | | is reflected in her rich architecture. Arguably no other |
| Kingdom of Strathclyde built its capital here, possibly at | | | | city has been bequeathed with finer examples of both |
| the site of a prehistoric burial mound, after Viking | | | | Edwardian and Victorian buildings. Two Glasgow |
| attacks made the continuing occupation of Dumbarton | | | | architects whose buildings are amongst the city's finest |
| Rock untenable. For the following three hundred years | | | | are worth a special mention; Alexander 'Greek' |
| Govan remained the capital of this sizeable realm, until | | | | Thomson (1817-1875), acclaimed for his innovative |
| its incorporation into Scotland by King David I in the 12th | | | | reinvention of the classical Greek style, and the world |
| century. Govan's ancient origins can most clearly be | | | | renowned Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928), |
| seen at Govan Parish Church, once the site of the | | | | whose unique style remains highly influential |
| royal complex. The highly decorated hog back grave | | | | internationally. |
| markers and stone crosses on display constitute the | | | | The wealth apparent in Glasgow's finest buildings was |
| largest collection of such stones in Scotland outside of | | | | not shared equally. Industrial Glasgow gained a |
| Iona. | | | | reputation for its extreme poverty. Frustration with |
| As part of a policy designed to crush the aristocracy | | | | social inequality was expressed through the arts, |
| of Strathclyde, David I moved the centre of power in | | | | football, sectarianism and politics. While the idea that |
| the area to the site of Kentigern's church. In the | | | | the city was perpetually on the verge of Revolution is |
| centuries that followed the cathedral began to take | | | | rather far fetched the legends of 'Red Clydeside' play |
| shape as well as the adjacent Bishops Palace (on the | | | | a large part in both Glaswegian and Scottish identity. In |
| site of the Museum of Religion). Other stone structures | | | | more practical terms, Glasgow's industrial environment |
| began to spring up such as the 15th century Provand's | | | | was the birthplace of the British Labour movement. |