The ultimate guide to Liverpool’s Cultural Quarter - including Central Library and Walker Art Gallery

Liverpool's Cultural Quarter is often the first place seen by visitors. This gateway to the city is home to many significant buildings and institutions.

Situated opposite Lime Street station, St George's Hall provides a striking welcome to Liverpool. Said to be inspired by the Parthenon. The hall is one of the finest examples of a neoclassical building. Opened in 1854, the building boasts many firsts: it is the world's first commercially air-conditioned building and, when built, had the largest barrel vaulted ceiling and the largest piped concert organ in the world. As well as a stained glass window of its namesake, it houses a priceless Minton mosaic floor of over 30,000 tiles - though this is only on display to the public periodically. Oh, and you can get a pretty decent pie inside too.

St George's plateau can rightly claim to be the emotional heart of the region. Often a gathering place for the people of Liverpool in times of celebration and commemorations.

To the rear of the hall lies St Johns Gardens. Formerly a church and cemetery, the terraced sculpture gardens display listed monuments from the late Victorian and Edwardian. This memorial garden is a peaceful place to relax or have a picnic and escape the hustle and bustle of the city centre.

Along William Brown Street, there's a museum, art gallery and library. Named in honour of William Brown, who paid for their construction. Brown's wealth was accrued through slavery. It's the first street in the city to have a plaque installed which explains its links to the transatlantic slave trade.

Liverpool Central Library

Though Liverpool's Central Library has been re-modelled, it's a stunning Grade II listed housing 15,000 rare books. The most valuable items are housed in the secure, temperature controlled Repository. In addition, the Hornby Library, Oak Room and Picton Reading Room, there are 15 display cases showcasing various literary treasures. It also houses John James Audubon's Birds of America. Considered some of the rarest books in the world, you can also get the chance to see some of the incredibly illustrated birds close up.

Walker Art Gallery

The Walker Art Gallery is the national gallery of the North. For 130 years, it has housed Liverpool's most outstanding art collection. With a collection that ranges from outstanding modern and contemporary works to Medieval and Renaissance masterpieces. Some of the greatest British artists of the last century are represented in the modern and contemporary galleries, from Lucian Freud and David Hockney to Barbara Hepworth and L.S Lowry, while its Pre-Raphaelite and Impressionist collections are not to be missed.

World Museum

World Museum is the oldest of the museums and galleries operated by National Museums Liverpool. It first opened on 8 March 1853 in the Ropewalks, moving to its current location on William Brown Street in 1860. With a planetarium, aquarium and hands-on displays, it has expanded to become one of the great museums of the UK, with collections and displays of life sciences, earth sciences and human cultures around the world.

Though the buildings in this part of Liverpool can make you feel as though you've stepped back in time, once you've been here, you're bound to feel brand new.