Anyone who hasn’t had the good fortune to experience Venice can get pretty a similar taste of it in places dotted around the UK.
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Included in that is Halifax in Yorkshire, with its Piece Hall bearing a striking similarity to Saint Mark’s Square in the famous Italian city.
The ornate town square was redeveloped within the last decade and now world renowned musicians and bands love putting on shows between its ornate walls.
The artists are “clamouring to play there”, according to promoter Peter Taylor, whose firm Cuffe and Taylor have put on high profile shows this summer including Sting, George Ezra and Madness.
He told the BBC: “They want to play the Piece Hall over Manchester and Leeds – it’s a date in the North.
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Those who have performed at the hall have also drawn the comparison to Venice with Jessie Ware and James frontman Tim Booth both saying it’s like playing on an open-air stage at an Italian piazza.
While the likeness with Venice is an obvious one, the Piece Hall has also been hailed among some of the greatest town squares in the world, ranking alongside New York and Paris.
That’s according to Building Centre, who wrote: “Its courtyard is an architectural delight.
“It has been described along with others including Piazza San Marco in Venice, the Piazza del Campo in Siena, the Place des Vosges in Paris, and the Rockefeller Plaza in New York as one of the forty greatest Public Squares of the World.
“Since its regeneration it has acted as a catalyst for the regeneration of Halifax town centre as a whole.”
That regeneration took place several years ago now, with £19m spent on essential work between 2014-2017.
The Grade I building, which dates back to 1779, had its central courtyard levelled to create a new piazza, which has with the capacity for up to 7,500 people.
It has 315 units among the arcades that contain shops, restaurants and cafes, having previously been used for storing and trading cloth.
Its redevelopment has made those in the town proud of its heritage and of what it has to offer people, with visitor numbers increasing following the project.
Nicky Chance-Thompson, CEO of The Piece Hall Trust, told the Heritage Fund: “I live here, and I’ve seen the change in the town and the new businesses that are coming in.
Everything you need to know about visiting Italy
- Brits must have at least three months left on their passport from the day they plan to leave the country.
- Tourists do not need a visa if visiting for up to 90 days in 180 days.
- Make sure your passport is stamped on entry and exit.
- Travellers may be asked to show hotel booking confirmations and that they have enough money for their stay at the border.
- Holidaymakers may also need to show proof of insurance.
- Italy is one hour ahead of the UK.
- The country uses the euro with around €10 working out to £8.55.
- Flights to Italy from the UK take between 2 hours and 30 minutes to 3 hours depending on the destination.
“That includes the confidence that it’s creating in the local people. And the visitor numbers.”
Visitors certainly seem to love it too, with an overall rating of 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor from hundreds of reviews.
One described it as “a taste of Venice in Yorkshire”, adding: “It’s an oldy-wordy shopping place, the square is massive and hosts variety of open air events all year round.”
Another said: “The Piece Hall is a must. From the outside there are solid stone walls and once you enter through any of the four gates, you cannot help but be ‘wowed’ by the architecture.”
Meanwhile, this city in the UK has also drawn lots of comparisons with Venice.
And this small village has been labelled the Venice of the Cotswolds.
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