What to see in Southampton, itinerary including the main monuments and places of interest, including the old town, Bargate, Titanic Museum and St Michael's Church.
Tourist information
City of England, Southampton is located in the county of Hampshire, at the estuary of the Test River to the west and the Itchen River to the east, whose ancient river valleys, submerged by the sea, form Southampton Water, a deep inlet of the Sleeve.
To the west of the city extends the New Forest, which has become the national park called New Forest National Park, a very beautiful area including ancient forests and suggestive landscapes, dating back to the eleventh century, when the area was chosen as a hunting reserve by William I d 'England.
The port of Southampton is one of the most important on the English southern coast, from where ferries depart for Cowes, the port city of the nearby Isle of Wight, reachable with a daily excursion, and the large ocean liners, which connect England to New York, as happened in the legendary ocean crossings of the early twentieth century.
From this port, on April 10, 1912, the Titanic sailed for its tragic journey and, about three centuries earlier, the Mayflower, the ship that brought the first English colonizers, called Pilgrim Fathers, to the North American coasts, left from here.
The famous English writer Jane Austen lived in Southampton from 1807 until 1809, in a house located in Castle Square.
The building is no longer there today, in its place there is another more recent one.
The factory of the legendary Spitfire was also near Southampton, the fighter plane protagonist of historical battles during the Second World War, which is why the German air force bombed the city heavily.
Today Southampton offers interesting museums and art galleries, shops and beautiful parks.
What see
Of the ancient walls of Norman origin, about two and a half kilometers long and with seven entrance gates to the city, some remains remain, such as the Bargate, an ancient and elaborate northern gate, which stands isolated at the beginning of High Street, the Arundel Tower , circular tower of the thirteenth-fourteenth century, the Catchcold Tower, dating from the fifteenth century, the Castle Watergate, a door of the fourteenth century, and the God's House Gateway, with the beautiful tower where the Archaeological Museum is located.
In the historic center of the city, among the ancient buildings, you can see the King John's Palace, a fine example of Norman civil construction, near it is the Tudor House, a beautiful half-timbered building that houses a collection of objects from the Victorian era and Edwardian.
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Opposite stands the only medieval church that survived the bombings, St. Michael's Church, dating from the eleventh century and restored in the nineteenth.
On French Street is Medieval Merchant’s House, a 1290 half-timbered house belonging to a wine merchant, one of the few surviving medieval houses in England.
Among the main museums is the City of the Sea Museum, also known as the Titanic Museum, located on Havelock Road, where the relationship of the people of this city with the sea and the Titanic story is told.
At the Southampton City Art Gallery there are high quality exhibitions, ranging from painting, sculpture and drawing, to photography and cinema, as well as very interesting temporary exhibitions.
The Solent Sky Aviation Museum is a museum dedicated to the aeronautical activities that took place in Southampton, in the Solent and in Hampshire, through the history of the aircraft that were built in the area in the last century.
Various types of aircraft are on display, including the Spitfire and the Supermarine S.6B seaplane.
