Great Victoria Street in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, is a major

thoroughfare A thoroughfare is a primary passage or way as a transit route through regularly trafficked areas, whether by road on dry land or, by extension, via watercraft or aircraft. On land, a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a multi-lane highwa ...

located in the city centre and is one of the important streets used by

pedestrians A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...

alighting from

Belfast Great Victoria Street railway station Great Victoria Street is a railway station serving the city centre of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is one of two major stations in the city, along with , and is one of the four stations located in the city centre, the others being Lanyon Place ...

and walking into shopping streets such as Royal Avenue. The street connects with the

Donegall Road The Donegall Road is a residential area and road traffic thoroughfare that runs from Shaftesbury Square on what was once called the " Golden Mile" to the Falls Road in west Belfast. The road is bisected by the Westlink – M1 motorway. The lar ...

and the

Lisburn Road Lisburn Road is a main arterial route linking Belfast and Lisburn, Northern Ireland. The Lisburn Road is now an extension of the " Golden Mile" with many shops, boutiques, wine bars, restaurants and coffee houses. The road runs almost parallel t ...

which are also linked into Shaftesbury Square in the southern direction and towards the

Donegall Square Donegall Square is a square in the centre of Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. In the centre is Belfast City Hall, the headquarters of Belfast City Council. Each side of the square is named according to its geographical location, i.e. Do ...

in the northern direction, which links via Howard Street into Donegall Place. The street itself was named in honour of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

. It includes the Monument to the Unknown Woman Worker, which is in a prominent walking route into

. There are also a number of churches located along the street. Great Victoria Street, Belfast - geograph

The station, which is a terminal building, probably designed by

Ulster Railway The Ulster Railway was a railway company operating in Ulster, Ireland. The company was incorporated in 1836 and merged with two other railway companies in 1876 to form the Great Northern Railway (Ireland). History The Ulster Railway was auth ...

engineer John Godwin, was completed in 1848. In April 1976

Northern Ireland Railways NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) ( ga, Iarnród Thuaisceart Éireann); and for a brief period Ulster Transport Railways (UTR), is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. NIR is a subsidiary of Translink, whose paren ...

closed Great Victoria Street, and the terminus of the Bangor line, replacing them with the station. Great Victoria Street station was demolished. After a feasibility study was commissioned in 1986 it was agreed that a new development on the site, incorporating the reintroduction of the Great Northern Railway, was viable. The Great Northern Tower was built on the site of the old station terminus in 1992, and the second Great Victoria Street Station was opened on 30 September 1995. It is only yards from the site of its predecessor.

Notable addresses

Grand Opera House, Belfast The Grand Opera House is a theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by the most prolific theatre architect of the period, Frank Matcham. It opened on 23 December 1895. According to the Theatres Trust, the "magnificent auditorium is probabl ...

, an ornate late Victorian theatre *

Crown Liquor Saloon The Crown Liquor Saloon, also known as the Crown Bar, is a pub in Great Victoria Street in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Refurbished in 1885, and at least twice since, it is an outstanding example of a Victorian gin palace, and one of Northern Ire ...

, an ornate late Victorian pub *

* Europa Hotel, Belfast, the most bombed hotel in Europe *Blackstaff House, BBC Northern Ireland

References

External links

Great Victoria Street Presbyterian ChurchGreat Victoria Street Baptist Church
{{coord, 54.595, -5.934, display=title, region:GB_scale:5000 Streets in Belfast