glass dome

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Approaching its 150th anniversary, Birmingham’s Great Western Arcade has survived being bombed in the Blitz, and has undergone several renovations since the war, but has retained its Victorian feel and is still a busy walkway between Snow Hill station and the city centre. One of the entrances was destroyed by a bomb in 1940, though…

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The Victorian Arcade in Walsall, just north west of Birmingham, was built in 1896, though it was originally known locally just as The Arcade, and then Digbeth Arcade. It has three entrances and is in the form of a T, the most impressive facade being on Bradford Street, which has a first floor verandah with…

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The arcade in Leadenhall Market dates from 1881. It was apparently modelled on Milan’s famous Victor Emanuele Gallery, though it has always had a very different feel from Milan’s glamorous arcade. Once known for the place you’d get ‘fur and feathers,’ Leadenhall Market arcade today is a bit more of a foodie’s paradise, with Tapas…

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It’s hard to imagine today that Boscombe’s beautiful Victorian arcade used to host daily concerts, with an organ, an orchestra and singers on the balcony. It reminded me of Southport’s wonderful Wayfarers’ Arcade in the sense that it has seen better days, though I think even the Southport arcade has more connection back to its…

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Krüger Passage in Dortmund was built in 1912 by the latest in this family of printers and booksellers, who ran a local newspaper and had a bookshop which ran the whole length of one side of the arcade when it opened. Sadly, that bookshop closed in 2009 after 97 years of business in the arcade…

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De Passage in The Hague is a superb arcade with extraordinary high glass ceilings and three arms, all leading out from the central glass dome. The dome and two of those arms were built in 1885; the third arm in 1929. The original foundation stone was laid a little four year old girl called Eliza,…

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The Galerie Vivienne is probably the most spectacular, eye-catching of the Paris arcades. Whether you look up, down or around, there are stylish delights to feast the eyes, from the tiled mosaic flooring, done by Italians Mazzioli and Facchina, to the classic figures in the coving and ceilings above; with its splendid glass dome, bringing…

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