The Belfast quarters are distinctive cultural zones within the city of

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 Kingd ...

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. North ...

, whose identities have been developed as a spur to tourism and urban regeneration. These "quarters" differ from the traditional

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

into which Belfast is divided. The term "quarter" does not refer to one fourth (or one quarter) of the city, nor is every area in the centre of Belfast part of one of the quarters. Instead, each "quarter" reflects something about a neighbourhood's history and locale, with the "Quarter" label being something that has come into general use in recent years. Belfast's official tourism website describes four quarters in the city.

Cathedral Quarter

Cathedral Quarter takes its name from St. Anne's Cathedral and has taken on the mantle of the city's key cultural locality. It boasts a yearly visual and performing arts festival. Custom House Square is one of the city's main outdoor venues for free concerts and street entertainment.

Titanic Quarter

Titanic Quarter Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a large-scale waterfront regeneration, comprising historic maritime landmarks, film studios, education facilities, apartments, a riverside entertainment district, and the world's largest Titanic ...

covers 75 hectares of reclaimed land adjacent to Belfast harbour, formerly known as ''Queen's Island''. Named after the ''Titanic'', which was built there in 1912, work has begun which aims to transform the former shipyard into "one of the largest waterfront developments in Europe". Plans also include new apartments, a riverside entertainment district, and a major Titanic-themed museum. The museum was opened in 2012 and called

Titanic Belfast ''Titanic'' Belfast is a visitor attraction opened in 2012, a monument to Belfast's maritime heritage on the site of the former Harland & Wolff shipyard in the city's Titanic Quarter where the RMS ''Titanic'' was built. It tells the stories ...

. Titanic Quarter also features the SSE Arena and Odyssey Pavilion, a major entertainment complex which has hosted concerts by such artists as

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

, Slipknot,

Kings of Leon Kings of Leon is an American rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew Followill. The band's early music was a blend of Southern rock and ...

, and

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

, as well as comedy stand-up shows by

Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books. Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...

and Russell Howard. It also played host to the MTV EMA Awards for the very first time on 6 November 2011.

Queen's Quarter

Queens Quarter is named after Queen's University and is located in South Belfast, famous for its leafy, suburban atmosphere despite its proximity to the city centre. The area has a large student population and hosts the annual Belfast Festival at Queen's each autumn. It is also home to Botanic Gardens and the

Ulster Museum The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treas ...

, which underwent extensive refurbishment for several years, reopening in 2009. The Golden Mile is the name given to the mile between

Belfast City Hall Belfast City Hall ( ga, Halla na Cathrach Bhéal Feirste; Ulster-Scots: ''Bilfawst Citie Haw'') is the civic building of Belfast City Council located in Donegall Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It faces North and effectively divides the com ...

and Queen's University. Taking in Dublin Road, Great Victoria Street, Shaftesbury Square and Bradbury Place, it contains some of the best bars, restaurants and nightclubs in the city. Since the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in Nor ...

in 1998, the nearby

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 to ...

has developed into the city's most exclusive shopping strip.

Gaeltacht Quarter

The Gaeltacht Quarter ( ga, An Cheathrú Ghaeltachta) is an area ranging from Castle Street in Belfast City centre and westwards along Falls Road in West Belfast which promotes, displays and encourages the use of the

Irish language Irish (an Caighdeán Oifigiúil, Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages, Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European lang ...

Other Quarters

As the quarters are not strict mathematical divisions of the city, numerous other quarters have been suggested. These include: * Smithfield and Union Quarter * Linen Quarter * Market Quarter * Library Quarter * Station Quarter (Planned) *

References

*Financial Times Article: Belfast shrugs off talk of hard times, by John Murray Brown. Published: 13 April 2009 23:0

External links

Discover the Quarters, Official Belfast Tourism Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belfast Quarters Quarters of Belfast Tourist attractions in Northern Ireland