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Photo: David Dixon, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The principal wing is the work of Sir Charles Barry, also architect of the House of Parliament. Manchester's central art gallery is home to a huge collection of 19th-century and earlier works, including paintings by Canaletto, Constable, Turner, and Burne-Jones, as well as more complete collections by other artists. It has also been home to a number of original exhibitions over the last few years and the city's own art from all ages is well-represented within. There are important collections of world ceramics and English silver.
Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre, England. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupies three connected buildings, two of which were designed by Sir Charles Barry. Both of Barry's buildings are listed. The building that links them was designed by Hopkins Architects following an architectural design competition managed by RIBA Competitions. It opened in 2002 following a major renovation and expansion project undertaken by the art gallery.
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Daily daytime, check the website for service times. St. Ann's Church is the main parish church of Manchester and one of only two surviving Medieval churches in the city centre (the other is the cathedral). It is also a venue for many sacred and secular classical music events. A small shop selling books and gifts is open at all times except during services.
The neo-classical Royal Exchange was the commercial heart of Manchester's and therefore the world's cotton trade. The main trading hall, essentially a neo-Roman basilica, was at one time the largest commercial room in the world. It fell into disuse in the 1960s, but was rescued in the 1970s by the restoration of the building and the addition of an ultra-modern theatre in-the-round for Sir Robert D.H. Scott's '69 (now Royal Exchange) theatre Company. It stands in the centre of the main trading floor, squatting like an alien invader's spaceship, but is actually supported on the hall's load bearing columns. Ill-disposed members of the audience sitting in the theatre's surrounding on-stage banquette seats are well-placed to trip the actors up physically. Extensive wine merchant cellars have now been converted into a shopping centre and the wings surrounding the theatre hall contain offices and Barristers' chambers. Pop in during the day for a coffee or something stronger at the tranquil and elegant licensed cafe in the main hall: the entrance is up the stairs in St. Ann's Square or on Cross Street. As well as the wonderfully-restored interior and three dramatic coloured-glass domes, you can admire the trading board, which still shows the price of cotton around the world on the last day of trading in 1969. There is also a small, expensive craft shop inside.
CFCCA
Small, alternative Chinese art gallery. Closed until 2023
Attraction opening times vary. Originally the home of Manchester's newspaper offices, the Printworks is now a covered street where it's night time all day long. It is the home of several well-known restaurants including Hard Rock café Manchester (the only English Hard Rock outside of London) and drinking establishments, as well as a large Vue cinema, home of Manchester's IMAX screen.
Cathedral Yard (Visitor Centre at 10 Cateaton Street, around the corner). Cathedral M-F 8AM-7PM, Sa 8AM-5PM, Su 8:30AM-7:30PM, check website for service times and events; Visitor Centre is open M-Sa 10AM-4:30PM, Su 11:30AM-4PM. One of the few surviving medieval buildings in Manchester, the cathedral is a beautiful, dark Gothic building inside and out. It has a modern interactive Visitor Centre built around the excavations of the medieval 'Hanging Bridge' with an excellent licensed restaurant and gift shop. Entry to all attractions is free. Gamers may recognise the cathedral from its controversial setting in the video game Resistance: Fall of Man.
Based in the visually striking glass sloping Urbis building designed by Ian Simpson Architects. England's only national museum for football (aka soccer) is spread over six floors. Museum café near exit. Admission ticket prices lower if booked on line.