Liverpool Cathedral, more generally known as the
Anglican Cathedral (because there are two, yes two, cathedrals in
Liverpool; the other is
Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral) is a very striking
building though it is still unfinished (for
tax reasons). When one approaches it, it appears to rise up out of the ground, and it is extremely large and a sort of reddish
colour. Even more striking, though, is its interior.
The wonderfully lit (my Grandfather put some of the lights in) roof space echoes of just that - space. It stretches to what seems like almost infinity upwards, and the same amount to the back. If you visit Liverpool at any point in your life, you must visit this building: no writing can convey the wonder of seeing the inside of this building for the first time.
Some of the most striking interior features, apart from the sheer scale (it is, I believe, the largest enclosed space in Europe), are the massive stained glass windows and the giant pipe organ: the largest church organ in the world, the third largest organ of any sort in the world, insured for eight million pounds with a German company, containing both the longest and shortest pipes in any organ in the world. In fact, the organ is so large that it has an automatic cutoff to stop it running at full organ because it is believed that this would blow out all of the windows in the cathedral. The organ's largest stop is the 32 foot Trompette Militaire, so loud that the pipes are coiled round in the top of the roof.
If you visit this cathedral, make sure that you a) do not visit the Refectory because it is so expensive; b) take the trip to the roof. You have to go up in two lifts and about 300 steps, but it is well worth it. The view from the top of the cathedral covers most of Liverpool, the River Mersey, and the Other Shore. Take your camera.
Liverpool Cathedral is one of the most prominent features of the Liverpool skyline, along with Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, St John's Tower, and the Royal Liver Buildings.