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City Hall Review
Read our Belfast sights reviews. Or post your own.
City Hall
- Address: Donegall Sq., Central District, Belfast
- Phone: 028/9032-0202
- www.belfastcity.gov.uk
- Category: Government Buildings
- Location: Central District
Fodor's Review:
Massive, exuberant, Renaissance Revival City Hall dominates Donegall Square. Built between 1898 and 1906 and modeled on St. Paul's Cathedral in London, it was designed by Brumwell Thomas, who was knighted but had to sue to get his fee. It was from a specially built platform on its front steps that American President Bill Clinton made an emotional address to the people during his historic 1995 visit. Before you enter, take a stroll around Donegall Square, to see statues of Queen Victoria; a monument commemorating the Titanic, which was built in Belfast; and a column honoring the U.S. Expeditionary Force, which landed in the city on January 26, 1942 -- the first contingent of the U.S. Army to land in Europe in World War II. Enter under the porte cochere at the front of the building. From the entrance hall (the base of which is a whispering gallery), the view up to the heights of the 173-foot-high Great Dome is a feast for the eyes. With its complicated series of arches and openings, stained-glass windows, Italian-marble inlays, decorative plasterwork, and paintings, this is Belfast's most ornate public space -- homage to the might of the British empire. The guided tour gives access to the Council Chamber, Great Hall, and Reception Room, all upstairs. Your guide should have plenty of juicy stories to tell about past events in the Chamber, once dubbed the "bear pit," as Unionist and Nationalist elected councillors verbally battled it out while civil unrest raged in the streets.
- Cost: Free
- Open: Mon.-Thurs. 9-5, Fri. 9-4.30; guided tours June-Sept., weekdays at 11, 2, and 3, Sat. at 2:30; Oct.-May, weekdays at 11 and 2:30, Sat. at 2:30
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