The Lowry is an arts center on Pier Eight in Salford Quays, recognizable by its exterior of stainless steel and glass and the large aerofoil-shaped canopy stretching over its main entrance. Opened in two thousand, the building rests on…
Best of Manchester
This self-guided walk showcases Manchester's essential historical libraries, prominent cultural museums, and grand Victorian architecture. You will follow a route from the modern Salford Quays through the heart of the city to its medieval core.
Take this tour in street view →Listen in the Mira app
1. Lowry
2. Science and Industry Museum
The Science and Industry Museum occupies the site of the Liverpool Road Station, which opened in eighteen thirty as the world’s first inter-urban passenger railway station. You can identify the complex by the eighteenth-century and…
3. The John Rylands Library
The John Rylands Library stands on Deansgate as a fortress of red sandstone, its battlements, octagonal turrets, and intricate traceried windows creating the appearance of a medieval church rising among modern commercial buildings. Built…
4. Manchester City Council
Manchester Town Hall is defined by its eighty-five-meter clock tower, which rises above the city center as a monumental expression of Victorian Gothic ambition. Completed in eighteen seventy-seven after nine years of construction, the…
5. Manchester Art Gallery
The Manchester Art Gallery on Mosley Street is recognizable by the grand, columned portico of its original building, designed by Sir Charles Barry in the Greek Ionic style. Opened in eighteen thirty-five for the Royal Manchester…
6. Royal Exchange Theatre
The Royal Exchange is marked by a vast, classical stone exterior that looms over the city center, but its most striking interior feature is a seven-sided steel and glass theater module that appears to hang suspended in mid-air. Built…
7. Manchester Cathedral
Manchester Cathedral is distinguished by its exceptionally wide nave, the broadest of any medieval church in England. This Gothic structure, constructed from weathered red sandstone, sits at the heart of the city’s Medieval Quarter. While…
8. Chetham's Library
Chetham's Library occupies a sandstone building constructed in fourteen twenty-one to house priests. It remains one of the most complete medieval complexes in the northwest of England. In sixteen fifty-three, the site became the location…
9. National Football Museum
The National Football Museum occupies the Urbis building, a sharp, glass-walled structure that leans out over Cathedral Gardens. Inside, it holds the largest collection of football memorabilia in the world, including over one hundred and…