subject: City Breaks And Cultural Glasgow [print this page] It is a great shame that the majority of visitors to Edinburgh (the capital city of Scotland and the nation's top vacation destination) fail to visit the wonderful city of Glasgow which is only a short distance away.
Glasgow is growing in popularity as a vacation destination but most tourists are attracted to the city because of it's reputation for having exciting nightlife. Glasgow has much, much more to offer visitors, especially the more culturally minded, and below I introduce 3 superb places to visit associated with arts and culture.
The Mackintosh House: The Mackintosh House is a central feature of the University of Glasgow's, Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery. The Mackintosh House is a modern concrete building, part of the gallery/library complex, which stands on the site of one of two rows of terraced houses, that were demolished in the 1960s to make room for the University's expansion. One of the buildings lost, was 78 Southpark Avenue (formerly 6 Florentine Terrace), home of the Mackintoshes from 1906 to 1914. As much as possible was salvaged of the original fittings, and put into storage, to enable the future reassembly of the hall, dining room, studio, drawing room, and bedroom. The University rebuilt the form of the house comprising the reassembled interiors.
The House for An Art Lover: House For An Art Lover is one of Glasgow's most popular attractions. The Art Nouveau House was orignally designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Glasgow's most famous architect, with the help of his wife Margaret Macdonald. The design was for a competition, in 1901, to design a House for an Art Lover. The Mackintoshs entry was disqualified from the competition, on the grounds of late submission. Over 100 years later, the house now stands completed in Bellahouston Park, thanks to engineer Graham Roxburgh and architect Professor Andy Macmillan. Building work began in 1989 but was then halted, and resumed again in 1994, due to the collaboration between Glasgow City Council and Glasgow School of Art.
The Scotland Street School Musem: Scotland Street School Museum, is Scotland's only Museum of Education. The school was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh between 1903 and 1906, and is classed as a must for all Mackintosh enthusiasts. Here one can learn the story of Scotland Street Public School, and the developments in education in Scotland, through a combination of displays, audio-visuals and reconstructed and restored classrooms. There are classrooms from the Victorian era, through to the Second World War, to the classroom of the fifties and sixties. The audio-visual room has an introductory video about the school as well as showing educational and historical archive films.
This is only three of the many, many places in Glasgow to visit if you are in need of cultural stimulation. I hope that this article will inspire you to consider having a city break in Glasgow soon. If you do please be aware that it is often difficult finding available rooms in the many hotels and guest houses so book early to be certain that you get somewhere suitable. Remember that you can see much of the city in a single weekend so Glasgow and Edinburgh are highly suitable for a dual destination vacation.
