IT IS the civic heart of our city – but few Glaswegians know the secrets that lie behind the grand façade of the City Chambers.

For instance, are you aware it is home to Glasgow’s very own Statue of Liberty? Or that it has more marble than the Vatican?

The team at Glasgow City Archives has been digging into the rich history of the George Square landmark, which is home to Glasgow City Council.

Here are nine things you (probably) didn’t know about Glasgow City Chambers.

1 The woman standing proudly atop the pediment of the building is Truth – known by some as Glasgow’s Statue of Liberty, as she bears more than a passing resemblance to New York’s famous figure. The statues beside her represent Riches and Honour.

Glasgow Times:

2 The City Chambers is home to western Europe’s largest marble staircase, built using Carrara marble imported from Italy. It is credited with having more marble than the Vatican, and, in fact, acted as a stand-in for the famous building in the 1986 movie Heavenly Pursuits.

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3 The murals on the walls of the magnificent Banqueting Hall were painted by artists from Glasgow School of Art, including several famous Glasgow Boys. They depict Glasgow’s past, present and future and are lit by huge electroliers - electric chandeliers - which are winched down annually for cleaning.

Glasgow Times:

4 The Satinwood Room is called so because it is finished with Australian satinwood. (Its Greek and Latin origin name - nematolepis squamea – does not trip off the tongue quite so easily.)

5 The original proposal for the pediment was to illustrate the Clyde and the city’s manufacturing going to all parts of the world. However, to mark the Queen’s Jubilee in 1887, the design was changed and instead shows Queen Victoria enthroned and surrounded by figures of Scotland, Ireland and Wales receiving congratulations from her subjects from all parts of the world.

Glasgow Times:

6 The George Square building is not, in fact, the original home of the Council. Meetings have taken place in the Tolbooth back in the 15th century and undoubtedly earlier, at the Tron kirk, then at Jail Square in 1814 (now known as Justiciary buildings); then to the City and County Building on Wilson Street in 1844; then Ingram Street in 1874 and finally, in 1888, in George Square.

Glasgow Times:

7 A public holiday was declared on 6 October 1883 and 600,000 watched a trades’ march of skilled workers from the city’s heavy industries and a masonic procession as the foundation stone was laid (by Lord Provost John Ure) with due pomp and ceremony. Four years later in August 1888 the topmost stone, the apex of the central tower, was laid. Queen Victoria performed the inauguration ceremony. In 1889 a ten-day public viewing attracted 400,000 people.

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While libraries remain closed, the Glasgow City Archives team - Dr Irene O’Brien, Lynsey Green, Michael Gallagher, Barbara Neilson and Nerys Tunnicliffe - have launched Ask the Archivist, which gives everyone the chance to ask questions about the city collections. Find out more on GCA’s Facebook page. It’s part of #glasgowlifegoeson