Look ahead-you can’t miss it! You’re searching for a building that looks like something plucked straight from a fairy tale of old Constantinople. It’s right at the corner where Berkley Street meets Princes Road. What’ll catch your eye first is those eye-catching stripes of red brick and creamy white stone, stacked in neat arches-one inside the other, like architectural nesting dolls. There’s a fence with gold-tipped spikes out front, but if you look up, you’ll spot a row of three domes perched proudly on the entrance, with yet another dome rising up just behind them. Each dome is built on a cylindrical base and they look almost like beehives-if bees were in the business of building palaces.
Now, as you stand here, picture yourself back in the late 1800s. This neighbourhood was the place to be-Liverpool’s wealthy families filled these streets with huge, impressive mansions, all trying to outdo their neighbours with the most dazzling building on the block. The Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas went up in 1870, designed in a grand Neo-Byzantine style that would’ve made any Victorian industrial captain puff out his chest.
But here’s something funny: on the outside, the church puts on quite the show-arches, domes, stripes so bold they could be in a seaside deckchair competition. But step inside, and it’s much plainer, with cool white marble columns and simple Byzantine-style tops. It’s like the building puts on its best suit for the outside, but switches to pyjamas once you’re through the door.
This church was inspired by one in Constantinople, which is now a mosque, so you could say St Nicholas is a bit of a copycat-which is only fair, because good ideas are meant to be shared. And take a look to either side of you: just next door you’ll find a majestic synagogue and an old Welsh Presbyterian church. Back in Victorian times, this little stretch was like an Olympic Games of architecture-each community showing off its culture and status, but all living side by side.
It wasn’t common for England in those days to see so much diversity, but right here, the city’s many faces came together, decorating Liverpool with a skyline full of surprises. So, next time you see a cluster of grand buildings and wonder who wanted to make the best impression-well, the answer is everyone. And who can blame them? In Liverpool, even the bricks seem keen to stand out.
