Located in Mid-Cornwall, 10 minutes from the A30 Carland Cross junction, Truro is said to have originated in trade with the Phoenicians and a former stannary town and the city today is the principal commercial centre for Cornwall. Truro was made a charter town more than 800 years ago, ships still ply the Truro River - formed from the confluence of the rivers Allen and Kenwyn - tying up at the quay, although these days more pleasure vessels make the navigation from Falmouth.

Truro prospered as a port in the middle ages, but mine waste and silt gradually clogged up the River Truro, and the town declined in the late 17th century. Then the expansion of copper and tin mining in the 19th century lead to it becoming a business centre, and many Georgian buildings were constructed at this time. All the westward turnpikes led to Truro, and in 1859 the railway added new life to the town. Lemon Street is one of the best preserved Georgian streets in England.

It became a city in 1877, and was chosen as the site for Cornwall's only cathedral in 1910. This was the first English Protestant cathedral to be built since St Paul's. It has three spires and is built in granite and Bath stone in early English and gothic styles. The existing 16th century parish church has been incorporated into the cathedral's south wall.

It is the latter-day Cornish capital, being home to the county council, Royal Cornwall Museum, the wonderful Boscawen and Victoria gardens, local shops sitting alongside the big national stores and wonderful quayside buildings. Truro has a wealth of pubs and restaurants and is home to the county's major entertainment venue, the Hall for Cornwall. Completed in the autumn of 1997, the hall stages events from flea markets to musical spectaculars, with state-of-the-art facilities catering for a multitude of uses.

The shopping centre is a major draw for people from all across Cornwall, and plans currently with the local authorities, seek to build on the city's popularity with retailers.