Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
City. But there are hints to the past, and Merchant City is almost to Glasgow as
SoHo is to Manhattan, with loft apartments and trendy bars.
Start the walk at:
1
The Necropolis
As big graveyards go—with monuments, crypts, and views—Glasgow's Central
Necropolis is difficult to beat. Fashioned on Paris's famous Père Lachaise, it
was the third of its kind in Britain, opening in 1833 (after St. James's in Liver-
pool and London's Kensal Green), although a Jewish burial ground had been
established at the base of the hill 3 years earlier. The most sought-after plots of
the day were near the monument to John Knox, which had been standing on
the hill since 1825.
17
Cross the bridge to Cathedral Square and:
2
Glasgow Cathedral
The Cathedral (p. 196) is considered one of the best examples of medieval
religious architecture in Scotland, although there's unfortunately no evidence
of the settlement that once surrounded it. Across High Street, the building
known as Provand's Lordship (p. 201) was built in 1471 by Bishop Andrew
Muirhead. It miraculously managed to avoid demolition during Glasgow's
robust urban renewals of the 19th and 20th centuries. The tall and modern
buildings beyond it to the west are part of Strathclyde University.
Walk south on High Street to:
3
Glasgow Cross & Tolbooth
Down gently curving High Street, the red sandstone tenements you pass are
exemplary of those constructed in the late-Victorian era by the Civic Improve-
ment Trust. After crossing Duke Street comes the College Bar (nearly opposite
the High Street railway station), whose name is a reminder that the original
Glasgow University campus was nearby. The towering landmark at the base of
the street and historic Glasgow Cross is the eight-story
Tolbooth Steeple,
completed in 1627, around which traffic up and down High Street snakes
today.
At the steeple go east (left) and walk along the:
4
Gallowgate
“Gate” in Scottish essentially means “road to”: Today, the Gallowgate is one of
the main avenues leading to the working-class bastions of Glasgow's East End.
If it's a weekend, visit the Barras (or Barrows) market, full of antiques, collect-
ables, junk, and Glasgow character. The old dancing ballroom called Barrow-
land has become one of the most famous and popular places to see rock bands
in Scotland. Also worth noting is the Saracen Head (or as the locals say, Sarry
Heid) pub. It has historic connections to an inn of the same name that hosted
Johnson and Boswell and also Wordsworth. Alas, it is only open sporadically
these days.
