the Titanic visitor center
at low tide the Lagan Weir keeps the water in the river to prevent smelly mudflats
St George' Market dates from the 1890s and is stil in use
St Anne's Cathedral sports a huge Celtic Cross and a modern spire
the Titanic Memorial
inside City Hall lies the dead young Earl of Belfast with his mourning mother at his side
the Crown Liquor Saloon is one of Dublin's best known pubs
the Stormont Parliament Buildings are set in a grand park, outside Belfast
100 years after the Titanic, shipyard Harland & Wolff is stil going strong
the Albert Memorial Clock from 1856 may be leaning but the clock works fine
Belfast sits at the mouth of the
Lagan River and is Northern Ireland's capital and largest city.
People have lived in this area
since the Bronze Age, but Belfast proper was founded in 1611. As part of the
Plantation of Ulster the settlement was deliberately
populated with Protestants from England and Scotland.
The
Industrial Revolution started in the 18th century and made
Belfast a booming and prosperous place thanks to the linen, heavy engineering and shipbuilding industry. At the turn of the 19th
century the Harland and Wolff shipyards were the biggest in the world. The unsinkable
RMS Titanic was build here in 1912.
Much
to the surprise of the locals Belfast was heavily bombed by the German Luftwaffe in 1941, causing heavy losses.
Today Belfast
remains the economic engine of NI but the heavy industry plays a much smaller role.
The bloody clashes of
The Troubles hit
Belfast hard and despite the Good Friday Agreement tensions still simmer and regularly flare up.
We visited Belfast in June 2018.
Belfast City Hall was completed in 1906
Queen Victoria keeps an eye on the youth in the garden
when the German Luftwaffe bombed Belfast in 1941, the market was turned into a temporary mortuary
locals call the Beacon of Hope the Thing with the Ring
when entering the pub you can have your feet pay homage to the Brittish Crown
inside the Cathedral hangs the Titanic Pall with 1517 crosses
