Glasgow’s landmark buildings tell its history in stone. The oldest, Glasgow Cathedral and Provand’s Lordship, date from the medieval church town. The Trades Hall of 1794, designed by Robert Adam for the fourteen incorporated trades, is the oldest building in the city still used for the purpose it was built for, and the Necropolis, opened in 1833, reflects the confidence of the merchants who chose to be buried there. St Andrew’s in the Square, the tobacco lords’ parish church, is often called the finest classical church in Scotland.

Victorian prosperity produced buildings of extraordinary ambition. The City Chambers, opened in 1888, have marble and mosaic interiors to rival any palace. The Templeton Building on Glasgow Green, a carpet factory modelled on the Doge’s Palace in Venice, was built between 1888 and 1892. The Britannia Panopticon, opened in 1857, is the oldest surviving music hall in the world, where Stan Laurel made his first appearance on stage. The People’s Palace opened in 1898 as a museum for the East End, and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in 1901.

The twentieth century added landmarks of its own. Mackintosh’s Lighthouse and School of Art pointed in a new direction, while the Barrowland Ballroom, which first opened in 1934, became one of the best-loved music venues in Britain. The Central Mosque, opened in 1984 as the first purpose-built mosque in Scotland, shows how the city has continued to add new buildings for new communities.

Each article below covers a single building, its architect, its history and what can be seen today.

Every article in this chapter: