The modern city of Glasgow is a huge metropolis, which, however, has retained a lot of antiquity in its appearance. The historical center here definitely deserves a visit if you are already in Scotland, and you won’t be bored in the urban area. The history of Glasgow dates back about one and a half thousand years, but for a long time this city remained small, until, as a result of the technological revolution, it began to grow rapidly, turning into one of the largest industrial centers of the United Kingdom.
Facts about the city of Glasgow
- It is the largest city in Scotland and the fourth most populous in all of the UK.
- Glasgow is the most multicultural city in Scotland. Half of all Pakistanis in Scotland live in Glasgow (about 15,000 people). Glasgow is also home to a large number of immigrants from Bangladesh, India, China, Africa.
- In Glasgow there is an equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington, on whose head the townspeople from time to time place traffic cones. In 2013, the municipal government claimed that the removal of the cones cost the budget £10,000 annually. The city administration even planned to double the height of the plinth so that vandals could not reach the head of the Duke of Wellington. However, protests and the “Save the Cone” petition forced the administration to refuse to increase the height of the monument.
- In Glasgow, an 18-screen Cineworld cinema was opened in 2001, which was entered in the Guinness Book of Records as the highest cinema on the planet.
- The famous house of Lord Provand in Glasgow was built over 500 years ago by the lord himself.
- Also in Glasgow there are 37 public libraries, including the largest reference library in Europe – the Mitchell Library, which was opened in 1877 by the will of tobacco magnate Stephen Mitchell. Its collection contains 1,300,000,000 books and about 35,000 maps. In addition to a rich book and cartographic archive, the library also houses microfilm, newspapers and historical photographs.
- In 1990, Glasgow was awarded the title of “City of European Culture”.
- Glasgow is the only city in Scotland, where the subway was built. The trains are orange, by the way, which is quite unusual.
- The criminal custom of cutting the mouths of rival gangs from ear to ear originated here, and later became known as «Glasgow smile». A «Glasgow Kiss» here means a headbutt in the face of the enemy.
- In 2007, the city council of Glasgow included the cartoon character Scrooge McDuck in the list of prominent citizens, because according to the plot, the anthropomorphic billionaire drake is of Scottish origin, and comes from this very city.