The Burrell Collection

Based in Pollok County Park, as so many of the city’s finest visitor attractions are (see also Kelvingrove Museum and The People’s Palace on Glasgow Green), The Burrell Collection is a vast assortment of more than 8,000 objects gifted to Glasgow in 1944 by Sir William Burrell (1861-1958).

A fabulously wealthy Scottish shipping merchant and philanthropist with a taste for antiques and fine art, Burrell had a personal gallery that was one of the greatest ever amassed by a single individual. It included many important examples of late medieval art, Chinese and Islamic art, and pieces from ancient civilizations, as well as works by such masters as Rodin, Degas and Cézanne. All of this he donated to his home city, on the condition that they be well looked-after, protected from the environmental hazards of a then smog-ridden Glasgow, and displayed within a building no more than 16 miles outside of the city centre.

It took a long time for his wish to come true, but his treasures have been on public display since The Burrell Collection’s opening in 1983, in an award-winning home that was custom-designed by architects Barry Gasson and Brit Andresen.

And if this permanent exhibit – spanning practically every continent and great civilization in history – is not attraction enough, there are also frequent temporary exhibitions to see. Recent examples have focused on the likes of 19th-century French painter Jean-François Millet, and masters of impressionism such as Degas, Boudin, Fantin-Latour, Manet, Rodin, Cezanne, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley and Gauguin. If you’re planning a visit, make it soon – The Burrell Collection is due to close in 2016 for a four-year refurbishment, costing £45 million, during which time a 100-strong collection of its finest works will go on tour around the world.