26 Things you didn't know about Glasgow

Set on the River Clyde in the West of Scotland, Glasgow is fast becoming one of our most popular city break destinations. With a rich history and offering so much to see and do it is easy to see why, but how well do you really know Glasgow? Read on to find out 26 things you (probably) didn’t know about Glasgow...

The Culture

•  Glasgow has more than 20 world-class museums and galleries, including the Riverside Museum, the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) and the Scotland Football Museum.
• Glasgow is home to Europe’s largest civic art collection which is housed across a range of museums and galleries around the city – most of which are free to visit.
•  Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is the most visited art museum in the UK and houses work from the worlds most renowned artists including Monet, Renoir, Rembrandt and Salvador Dali.
• Glasgow is home to the world’s oldest surviving music hall the Britannia Panopticon which was built in 1857.
• Glasgow was the first British city to be named a UNESCO City of Music back in 2008. The cities legendary music scene hosts around 130 music events every week from a vast range of genres.
• Carrying on the music theme King Tuts Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow is one of the best small music venues in the world and a popular place to see new and emerging bands. In fact, The Killers, Pulp, Florence and the Machine and the Manic Street Preachers have all performed here.
•  In 1993 the legendary Mancunian band Oasis were discovered and signed by Alan McGee of Creation Records at King Tuts Wah Wah Hut.
• Cineworld in Glasgow is the tallest cinema in the world. The cinema complex consists of 18 cinema screens spread over 13 floors and has a combined capacity of 4300 people.
•  Glasgow has a great range of street art and the city has created a mural trail you can follow to see all the highlights.

The People

• Glasgow has been named as one of the friendliest cities in the world by Conde Nast Traveller magazine and Rough guides.com.
• Glasgow got its first police force in 1789, 40 years before London.
• The famous architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh was born in Glasgow in 1868 and the city is home to some of his best and most famous work including Mackintosh House. Not many people know that his first public commission was, in fact, a gravestone for the chief of police which stands in Glasgow Necropolis.
• John Logie Baird who was one of the inventors of the TV studied at the Royal Technical College in Glasgow. In 1928 he went on to successfully transmit sound and images from London to Glasgow using over 400 miles of telephone wire.
• Football Manager Sir Alexander Ferguson was born in Glasgow in December 1941 and began his football career playing for Glaswegian team Queens Park.

The History

• The impressive Glasgow city Chambers located on George Square is said to have more marble than the Vatican and houses the largest marble staircase in western Europe. Home to the City Council it was opened by Queen Victoria in 1888 and contains over 1.5 million tiles which were all laid by hand.
• The first ever (official) international football match took place in Glasgow in 1872 and was between Scotland and England. It finished as a 0-0 draw.
• Historically Glasgow was a leading trade port and the biggest port of tobacco trades in the UK.
• Glasgow has a strong industrial history and has been a centre for shipbuilding for hundreds of years. Several Royal Ships have been built on the River Clyde including The Queen Mary, The Queen Elizabeth and The QE2.

The Food & Drink

• The Horseshoe Bar in Glasgow City centre is one of the longest continuous bars in the UK and it is said Roy Rogers once rode his horse trigger along the full 104-foot length of it when visiting the city in the 1950's.
• Tennents larger was the first larger to be produced commercially in the UK and has been brewed at Wellpark brewery in Glasgow since 1885. The factory even embraces the cities love of street art and contains a range of branded murals on some of its buildings.
• Glasgow is the curry capital of Scotland -not only is it the place where Britain's favourite curry, Chicken Tikka Masala was invented,  but a recent study found the Glaswegians like their curries spicier than anywhere else in the UK.

The Place

• Glasgow was named as one of the top 52 places in the world to visit in 2018 by New York Times.
• Although Edinburgh is the Capital city of Scotland, Glasgow is infact the largest city and has a significantly bigger population.
• Glasgow means ‘dear green place’ in Gaelic which is rather apt as the city has over 90 parks and gardens.
•  Glasgow Green is the city’s oldest park and home to Daulton Fountain – the largest terracotta fountain in the world.
• Citybase Apartments has over 40 Glasgow apartments across the city, click here to find out more.