Belfast’s historic Assembly Rooms makes global heritage site ‘watch list’

22/01/2025

The Assembly Rooms in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter have been placed on the 2025 “watch list” by the World Monuments Fund (WMF).

The list identifies sites across the world that face “major challenges such as climate change, tourism, conflict and natural disaster”.

Built in 1769, the Assembly Rooms hosted the famous Belfast Harp Festival in 1792, which led to the preservation of the ancient tradition of Irish harping. It also was the site of a meeting in 1786 which blocked a slave trading company from being set up in Belfast.

In 2003, it was added to the Ulster Architectural Heritage‘s “at risk” register.

The Assembly Rooms are also the backdrop to RSUA Design Box which was unveiled in December. You can read more about the Design Box here.

More information on the Assembly Rooms and the World Monuments Fund watch list can be found here.

Photo courtesy of Joe Laverty.