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A grand red sandstone building with a central dome and pilastered facade stands behind a formal lawn, a monument visible to one side.
Glasgow

The People's Palace

The red sandstone museum of 1898 on Glasgow Green that tells the story of the city's own people, with its Winter Garden behind; closed for refurbishment.

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Welcome

On Glasgow Green, behind the terracotta Doulton Fountain, stands a red sandstone palace built for the people of the east end, with a great glasshouse on its back.

Money for a museum, reading room and gallery in the east end had been put aside from 1866, building began in 1895, and Lord Rosebery opened the People's Palace on 22 January 1898, in the Winter Garden itself. It cost £32,000, £18,000 of it paid by the Caledonian Railway for leave to run a tunnel under the Green.

The city engineer A.B. McDonald designed both the palace and the Winter Garden, a curving roof of steel and glass on iron columns four times the size of the building, said to be shaped like Nelson's Victory upside down. Since 1898 it has told the story of Glasgow's own people. The palace and the Winter Garden are closed at present for a refurbishment that will carry that story on, and the outside, the fountain and the Green are there to see.

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Not farMezcalMexican cooking made from scratch on Hope Street since 2019, with tacos on corn tortillas, margaritas and pink neon over the bar.1 mileSee itMezcal
Before you go

The People's Palace and Winter Gardens are closed for refurbishment and Glasgow Life has not yet given a reopening date.

The building, the Doulton Fountain in front of it and Glasgow Green around it can be seen at any time.

Now
Closed for refurbishment.
Where
Glasgow Green, Templeton Street, G40 1AT.

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Where it is

Glasgow Green, in the east end, behind the Doulton Fountain.

Close byOn the Green, or a short walk away.
  1. Glasgow Green from the air at golden hour, tree-lined paths crossing the grass to the People's Palace.Glasgow GreenThe oldest of Glasgow's parks, all around it.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. WEST brewery bar and restaurant on Glasgow Green.WEST on the GreenGerman-style lagers brewed in the Templeton Building next door.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. Bill's Tool Store's red front with its name across the top.Bill's Tool StoreA hardware shop on Bain Street by the Barras for over seventy years, with power tools, hand tools, fixings and workwear.Under a mile as the crow flies
  4. A whole thin-crust pizza with pepperoni, pesto, basil and a drizzle of sauce, in its box from Anxious Pete's.Anxious Pete'sUnder a mile as the crow flies
  5. The BarrasThe BarrasThe east end's weekend market, a short walk north.Under a mile 2 min by road
  6. Two curved steel sculptures forming a gateway over a path at Cuningar Loop, frost on the ground under a grey sky.Cuningar LoopWoodland in a bend of the Clyde upstream.2 miles 6 min by road
Directions
A burger in front of the Smokey Trotters skull painted on a wall.RestaurantsSmokey Trotters Kitchen0.4 miles
The long room at Outlier, with tables down one side and the open kitchen and counter on the other.CafeOutlier0.4 miles
The Stornoway at Scran + Roadie: black pudding and poached eggs on sourdough with hollandaise and a bacon crumb.CafeScran + Roadie0.4 miles
Racks of records under the white brick arches of Monorail Music, with browsers at the counter and shelves of records along the far wall.ShoppingMonorail Music0.5 miles
Through the House on High Street, its glass front under an old painted sign for Complete House Furnishers.CafeThrough the House0.5 miles
Two focaccia sandwiches, one of ham and mozzarella, with a bowl of soup on metal trays at Sister Midnight.CafeSister Midnight0.5 miles
The long dark front on the Gallowgate under its old Us V Them sign.CafeThomson's Coffee Gallowgate0.5 miles
A busy bar under bare beams and hanging bikes.RestaurantsSaint Luke's & The Winged Ox0.7 miles
Sea bream with charred corn and tomatillo salsa, pork belly and prawns with chickpeas on Sebb's red-rimmed plates.RestaurantsSebb's0.8 miles

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near the Palace, and when each is next free.

A grey sofa with cushions sits before a black and white kitchen, a framed print on the wall to the left.Moment Blythswood Street
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Glasgow
  • A mile from the People's Palace
Check datesA grey corner sofa with cushions and a sheepskin throw sits before a shelf of books and a round mirror, a wood burning stove and log store to the right.Talli House
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Dunlop
  • 12 miles from the People's Palace
Free 11–13 JanPlaces to stayEvery stay in GlasgowAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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From the magazineThe Nooks and Crannies of GlasgowArticleMeet Natalie, designer behind Nebo Peklo
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