Trongate

Trongate is one of the oldest streets in the city of Glasgow, Scotland.

Trongate, looking east. The Tron church and clock steeple is visible in the background

Located in the area of the Merchant City commonly known as "Old Glasgow",^{[citation needed]} it is the main route into the central area from the East End. Trongate begins at Glasgow Cross, the original centre of medieval Glasgow, marked by the Tolbooth clock tower - the remains of the city's original City Chambers which was destroyed in 1926 by fire. Heading westward, it becomes Argyle Street, the most southerly stretch of Glasgow's "Golden Z" shopping thoroughfare.

It was around the 1560s that the name Trongate first began to be used. The name comes by virtue of a weighbeam erected in the mid 16th century. The weigh beam was where all goods that were brought in from the Clyde were weighed and taxed. 'Tron' was a Scots word of Norman origin for weighing scales.

The Tron church (built in the 17th century) with its distinctive steeple and clock is the street's best known landmark, and was substantially redeveloped in the 1980s as the Tron Theatre. Historically, in line with the rest of Glasgow's medieval area, Trongate fell into decline following the Industrial Revolution as the city expanded westwards, and even today there are still many derelict buildings and half-closed shops.

In line with the rest of the Merchant City, the area has undergone a renaissance since the 1990s, with new bars, restaurants and upmarket apartment blocks being built from the old Victorian buildings. The London based retailer Selfridges acquired the former Goldbergs site on the corner of Trongate and Candleriggs on which to build a new department store which promised to revamp the area significantly, although progress on this stalled indefinitely after the sale of Selfridges to Canada's Galen Weston in 2003, who intended to revamp Selfridge's flagship Oxford Street store rather than open in Glasgow and other cities such as Newcastle Upon Tyne, Leeds and Bristol. As of August 2012, much of the northern side of the street remands semi-derelict.

Coordinates: 55°51′26″N 4°14′45″W / 55.85712°N 4.24577°W / 55.85712; -4.24577