Facts about Belfast

• Belfast is home to Ireland’s tallest building (and bar!)

Belfast’s Obel Tower is the tallest building in Ireland, standing at 85m with 27 floors. Hastings Grand Central Hotel is the second tallest building, with 23 floors and a height of 80m, making the luxurious Observatory Bar on the top floor the tallest bar in Ireland with some of the most spectacular city views you’ll ever see.

• Led Zeppelin first played Stairway To Heaven here

The historic Ulster Hall, which dates back to 1862, is where Led Zeppelin famously took to the stage to debut Stairway to Heaven in March 1971.

• CS Lewis was born in Belfast and the surrounding landscapes likely inspired The Chronicles of Narnia

Writer and theologian, Clive Staples Lewis was born in east Belfast in 1898 and later attended Campbell College, a private boys’ school that’s still open today. Among his most famous works were The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of fictional children’s books believed to have been inspired by hills, forests and castles around Belfast and across Northern Ireland.

• Belfast is home to one of the largest optic lights ever made

Did you know, the Great Light on Belfast’s Maritime Mile has the largest lenses ever made, emitting what was one of the strongest lighthouse beams in the world? The light is over 130 years old, weighs 10 tonnes and is seven metres tall!

• Belfast have sister cities in USA and China

Did you know Belfast has two sister cities? Nashville, Tennessee in the United States and Hefei in eastern China have been our sister cities since 1994 and 2005 respectively.

• Belfast was nicknamed Lineopolis

During the 1800s, Belfast was a very wealthy city. This was mainly due to the existence of two industries: linen manufacturing and shipbuilding.

Thousands of gold rushers came to Belfast at the time to work in these warehouses and shipyards. Men would generally work on ships. Women and children in linen factories. This industry grew so fast that by the end of the 19th century Belfast became the linen capital of the world and was nicknamed Lineopolis.

• The Albert Clock is Belfast’s leaning tower

The Albert Clock is sinking into the ground. It’s located too close to the harbour. The ground is not stable and hard enough and because of the weight of the tower itself, it’s now leaning by four feet. Some urban legends also say that it was because prostitutes were leaning against it waiting for the sailors to come back. The tower was located by a brothel.