Belfast is one of the most rewarding cities to visit on the island, and one that surprises first-timers. Here are a few things even regular visitors do not know.
1. Belfast built the Titanic
The Harland and Wolff shipyard built the Titanic, the Olympic and the Britannic at the same time in side-by-side slips. The slipways are still there, they form the centrepiece of the Titanic Quarter. The Titanic Belfast museum stands directly between them.
2. The Crown Liquor Saloon is owned by the National Trust
The Crown Bar on Great Victoria Street is the only pub in the UK or Ireland owned by the National Trust. The Victorian gas-lit booths and stained glass have been kept exactly as they were in 1885. You can drink in it like any pub.
3. Belfast has the largest Victorian-era city hall in the British Isles
Belfast City Hall, opened in 1906, sits on Donegall Square in the very centre of the city. The dome is made of copper and has turned green over a century. Free guided tours run several times a day.
4. C.S. Lewis was born here
The author of the Narnia chronicles grew up in east Belfast. The Holywood Arches and parts of the Cregagh estate where he lived are now decorated with sculptures of Aslan, the White Witch and the lamp post.
5. The peace walls are still up
The first peace walls were built in 1969 as a temporary measure. Most are still standing. There are now over ninety of them across the city, and several are now decorated with murals and graffiti by international artists.
6. Belfast invented modern hydraulic engineering
Harland and Wolff was an engineering centre as much as a shipyard. The rotor compass, used by ships and aircraft for most of the twentieth century, was invented in Belfast. So was the modern ejector seat, by Sir James Martin.
7. The Albert Clock leans
Albert Clock on Queen's Square, Belfast's version of Big Ben, leans noticeably out of vertical because it was built on reclaimed mudflats and has been settling for 150 years. The lean is about four feet at the top.
8. Cave Hill inspired Gulliver's Travels
Cave Hill, the basalt mountain that overlooks the city, has a profile that looks like the face of a sleeping giant. Jonathan Swift, who lived in Belfast for a time, is widely credited with using it as the inspiration for the giant of Lilliput in Gulliver's Travels.
9. The Linen Hall Library has been continuously open since 1788
The Linen Hall, on Donegall Square North, is the oldest library in Belfast and one of the oldest in the British Isles. Membership is open. The Irish and Northern Ireland sections are particularly strong.
10. Game of Thrones was filmed mostly here
The Paint Hall in Titanic Studios was the largest studio used for Game of Thrones, and exterior scenes were shot all over Northern Ireland. The Glens of Antrim, the Dark Hedges and Ballintoy Harbour are all within an hour and a half drive of Belfast.