​​​ Lost Paradises Travels - Europe  

United Kingdom - Manchester

​The recorded history of Manchester began with the civilian settlement associated with the Roman fort of Mancunium, which was established in about AD 79 on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the rivers Medlock and Irwell. The boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution resulted in it becoming the world's first industrialised city. The Manchester Ship Canal opened in 1894, creating the Port of Manchester and linking the city to sea, 36 miles (58 km) to the west. Its fortunes declined after the Second World War, owing to deindustrialisation. In 2014, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network ranked Manchester as a beta world city, the highest-ranked British city apart from London and it is now the third-most visited city in the UK, notable for its architecture and culture.