Description of the attraction
Liverpool Cathedral of Christ and the Holy Virgin Mary is the city's Anglican cathedral. The temple was built in the 20th century, it is the largest cathedral in Great Britain and the fifth largest in the world.
The diocese of Liverpool was established in 1880, and the first seat of the bishop was the small parish church of St. Peter. It took almost 20 years to agree on the construction site for the new cathedral and to design a competition. The competition was won by 20-year-old Giles Gilbert Scott, who by that time had not yet completed his studies, had not built a single building, and, moreover, belonged to the Catholic faith.
The first stone was laid by King Edward VII in 1904, but in 1910 Scott radically revised the project. The original plan provided for the construction of two towers and a single transept, according to the new plan, a central tower and two symmetrical lateral transepts were built. The decoration of the cathedral also underwent great changes, in many elements the neo-Gothic style was replaced by a more modern and monumental one.
The First World War significantly delayed construction, which resumed in 1920. It was planned to complete the work by 1940, but due to the outbreak of World War II in 1939, construction slowed down again, moreover, the cathedral was damaged by bombing.
The cathedral was fully completed only in 1978. Its length is 189 meters, and the height of the central tower is 101 meters. The cathedral's bell tower is also one of the tallest in the world, and at 67 meters is the world's tallest and heaviest collection of ringing bells. The cathedral also boasts the largest organ in Great Britain. The cathedral is adorned with over 50 sculptures and superb stained glass windows.
