Cork is unique among Irish cities. It is the only one which has experienced all phases of Irish urban development. Some towns were founded by the Vikings, others by planters, and others by landlords and industrialists. Cork alone has experienced them all. It originated as a monastic centre; it was transformed into a Scandinavian port; it was expanded by the Anglo-Normans; it was enlarged by English colonists in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; it was remodelled in Georgian and Victorian times when spacious streets and elegant town houses were constructed; its docks, warehouses and rows of artisan dwellings attest the impact of the industrial revolution; and in our own time, it has experience both the growth of substantial suburbs and the beginnings of inner-city renewal. For well over a thousand years Cork has attracted Gael and Gall alike and the modern city reflects the fusion of many diverse cultural traditions.