Liverpool is a city whose life has been fed by the sea. The entry point to the city today is more likely to put you in one of the many hotels at Liverpool Airport but in the past, the majority of people came and went by ship.
In 2004, Liverpool was awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site status for being a “supreme example of a commercial port at the time of Britain’s greatest global significance.” The waterfront of Liverpool harkens back to a time when Britain ruled the waves and possessed an empire upon which the sun never set. Goods from around the world arrived to the port in order to feed the industrial revolution. The Albert Dock, which houses the largest collection of Grade I listed buildings in the UK, now welcomes more tourists than ships. When it first opened, it was the most advanced dock in the world but today it is a haunting image of a vanished world. The dock also houses Tate Liverpool and the Merseyside Maritime Museum.
The docks and surrounding buildings served not only to manage the shipping but also to impress those who visiting. This was old fashioned power projection propaganda. The image of Liverpool was etched into the minds of sailors who would return home and tell tales of this magnificent city. At the Pier Head, visitors can catch a 50 minute cruise on the famous Mersey Ferries so as to see the waterfront as it was seen by arriving sailors. The most dominant buildings are the Royal Liver Building, Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building, which together are called the Three Graces (after the ancient Greek goddesses of charm, beauty, and fertility).These were symbols of the power and prestige of Liverpool and the British Empire.
If you are visiting this nautical city and looking for a cheap hotel Liverpool centre has many that will put you close to the old port and to your own modern port of entry. It still is a city that is connected to the world.
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