Guide turistiche

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. Birmingham is the largest of England's core cities, and is often considered to be the second city of the United Kingdom.[1] The City of Birmingham has a population of 1,006,500 (2006 estimate).[2] It forms part of the larger West Midlands conurbation, which has a population of 2,284,093 (2001 census)[3] and includes several neighbouring towns and cities, such as Solihull, Wolverhampton and the towns of the Black Country.

The city's reputation was forged as a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, a fact which led to Birmingham being known as "the workshop of the world" or the "city of a thousand trades".[4] Although Birmingham's industrial importance has declined, it has developed into a national commercial centre, being named as the third best place in the United Kingdom to locate a business, and the 21st best in Europe by Cushman & Wakefield in 2007.[5] It is also the fourth most visited city by foreign visitors in the UK.[6] In 1998, Birmingham hosted the G8 summit at the International Convention Centre and remains a popular location for conventions.[7]

People from Birmingham are known as 'Brummies', a term derived from the city's nickname of Brum. This comes in turn from the city's dialect name, Brummagem,[8] which is derived from one of the city's earlier names, 'Bromwicham'. There is a distinctive Brummie dialect (distinct vocabulary and syntax) and accent (way of speaking), both of which differ from the adjacent Black Country.


History


Birmingham started life in the 6th century as an Anglo-Saxon farming hamlet on the banks of the River Rea.[9] The name 'Birmingham' comes from "Beorma ingas ham", meaning "home of the people of Beorma."[10] Birmingham was first recorded in written documents by the Domesday Book of 1086 as a small village, worth only 20 shillings.[10]

In the 12th century, Birmingham was granted a royal charter to hold a market,[9] which in time became known as the Bull Ring, transforming Birmingham from a village to a market town. As early as the 16th century, Birmingham's access to supplies of iron ore and coal meant that metalworking industries became established.[11] By the English Civil War in the 17th century Birmingham had become an important manufacturing town with a reputation for producing small arms. Arms manufacture in Birmingham became a staple trade and was concentrated in the area known as the Gun Quarter.[12] During the Industrial Revolution (from the mid-18th century onwards), Birmingham grew rapidly into a major industrial centre and the town prospered. During the 18th century, Birmingham was home to the Lunar Society, an important gathering of local thinkers and industrialists.[13]

By the 1820s an extensive canal system had been constructed, giving greater access to natural resources to fuel to industries. Railways arrived in Birmingham in 1837 with the arrival of the Grand Junction Railway, and a year later, the London and Birmingham Railway. During the Victorian era, the population of Birmingham grew rapidly to well over half a million[14] and Birmingham became the second largest population centre in England. Birmingham was granted city status in 1889 by Queen Victoria.[15] The city established its own university in 1900.[16]

Birmingham was originally part of Warwickshire, but expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, absorbing parts of Worcestershire to the south and Staffordshire to the north and west. The city absorbed Sutton Coldfield in 1974, and at the same time became a metropolitan borough in the new West Midlands county. Up until 1986, the West Midlands County Council was based in Birmingham city centre.

Birmingham suffered heavy bomb damage during World War II's "Birmingham Blitz", and the city centre was extensively redeveloped during the 1950s and 1960s.[17] This included the construction of large tower block estates, such as Castle Vale, the reconstruction of the Bull Ring and the redevelopment of New Street station. In recent years, Birmingham has been transformed, with the construction of new squares, the restoration of old streets, buildings and canals, the removal of the pedestrian subways, and the redevelopment of the Bull Ring shopping centre.[18]

In the decades following World War II, the population of Birmingham changed dramatically, with immigration from the Commonwealth of Nations and beyond.[19] The population peaked in 1951 at 1,113,000 residents.


Museums and galleries


Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery has renowned displays of artwork that include a leading collection of work by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the world's largest collection of works by Edward Burne-Jones. The group also owns other museums in the city such as Aston Hall, Blakesley Hall, the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter and Sarehole Mill, a popular attraction for fans of J. R. R. Tolkien. Thinktank in the Eastside is one of the newest museums in the city. The Birmingham Back to Backs are the last surviving court of back-to-back houses in the city.[33]

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is both an art gallery and concert hall. It also has one of the world's most detailed and largest coin collections.[34] Cadbury World is a museum showing visitors the stages and steps of chocolate production and the history of chocolate and the company.


Parks and squares


There are over 8,000 acres (32 km²) of parkland open spaces in Birmingham.[35] The largest of the parks is Sutton Park covering 2,400 acres (9.7 km²) making it the largest urban nature reserve in Europe.[36] Birmingham Botanical Gardens are a Victorian creation, with a conservatory and bandstand, close to the city centre. The Winterbourne Botanic Garden, maintained by the University of Birmingham, is also located close to the city centre.

The city centre consists of numerous public squares including Centenary Square, Chamberlain Square and Victoria Square. The historic Old Square is located on Corporation Street. Rotunda Square and St Martin's Square are two of the newest squares in Birmingham, being located within the Bullring Shopping Centre. Brindleyplace also consists of three squares.


Religious buildings


St Philip's was upgraded from church to cathedral status in 1905. Another cathedral in the city is St Chad's, which is the seat of the Roman Catholic Province of Birmingham. St Martin in the Bull Ring is a Grade II* listed church. There is also a variety of non-Christian religions in the city. In the 1960s, Birmingham Central Mosque, one of the largest mosques in Europe, was constructed for the Muslim community of the city.[37]However, during the late 1990s a mosque in the Sparkhill area close to the city centre was re-developed in partnership with the Birmnigham City Council to supersede the Birmingham Central Mosque as the largerst Mosque in the city. It holds a larger capacity and a fully functional segragated womens section. As its centrepiece is an impressive new dome. The new mosque is generally home to the Kashmiri-Pakistani population which made Birmingham its home during the late 1960s. The mosque is at the forefront of forging good relations with the community and stands as a symbol of the ethnic diversity of the city whilst holding true to the essential core values of the Birmingham citizen. See also: Religion in Birmingham.