Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City
Liverpool, England
24.10.2016
Liverpool - a maritime trading city
Located in the northwest of England, Liverpool is a city with a rich history and a strong connection to the sea. The city's importance as a trading port has earned it a spot on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The history of Liverpool dates back to the 13th century, when it was just a small fishing village. Its strategic location on the River Mersey soon made it a key player in the transatlantic trade, particularly with the Americas. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Liverpool became one of the world's major trading ports, handling goods such as cotton, sugar, and tobacco.
One of the most iconic landmarks of Liverpool's maritime history is the Albert Dock, a complex of warehouses and dock buildings that was completed in 1846. It was a revolutionary design at the time, incorporating the latest technology to allow for efficient loading and unloading of goods. Today, it has been transformed into a vibrant cultural hub, with museums, galleries, restaurants, and shops.
The Merseyside Maritime Museum is also worth a visit for those interested in Liverpool's maritime past. It showcases the city's role in the transatlantic slave trade, as well as its involvement in the Titanic disaster and World War II.
Another important site is the Port of Liverpool Building, a stunning example of Edwardian architecture and one of the famous "Three Graces" that line the city's waterfront. It was the headquarters of the Mersey Docks and Harbor Board, which played a crucial role in the development of Liverpool as a trading port.
Today, Liverpool continues to thrive as a modern city, but its maritime heritage is still an integral part of its identity. Visitors can take a stroll along the waterfront, visit the Pier Head with its iconic Liver Building, or even take a ferry ride across the River Mersey to get a different perspective of the city.
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Six areas in the historic centre and docklands of the maritime mercantile City of Liverpool bear witness to the development of one of the world’s major trading centres in the 18th and 19th centuries. Liverpool played an important role in the growth of the British Empire and became the major port for the mass movement of people, e.g. slaves and emigrants from northern Europe to America. Liverpool was a pioneer in the development of modern dock technology, transport systems and port management. The listed sites feature a great number of significant commercial, civic and public buildings, including St George’s Plateau.
Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City is a former UNESCO designated World Heritage Site in Liverpool, England, that comprised six locations in the city centre including the Pier Head, Albert Dock and William Brown Street, and many of the city's most famous landmarks.
UNESCO received Liverpool City Council's nomination for the six sites in 2003 and sent ICOMOS representatives to carry out an evaluation on the eligibility for these areas to be given World Heritage Site status. In 2004, ICOMOS recommended that UNESCO should award Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City World Heritage Site status. Its inclusion by UNESCO was attributed to it being "the supreme example of a commercial port at a time of Britain's greatest global influence."
In 2012, the site was added to the List of World Heritage in Danger due to the proposed Liverpool Waters project. In 2017, UNESCO warned that the site's status as a World Heritage Site was at risk of being revoked in light of contemporary development plans, with English Heritage asserting that the Liverpool Waters development would leave the setting of some of Liverpool's most significant historic buildings "severely compromised", the archaeological remains of parts of the historic docks "at risk of destruction", and "the city's historic urban landscape [...] permanently unbalanced."
In 2021, Liverpool City Council's planning committee approved Everton F.C.'s new £500 million football stadium in Bramley-Moore Dock, within Liverpool Waters. This decision was ratified by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick. Following this, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee voted to revoke the site's World Heritage status.
