IT was the day when the Queen opened a venue that had actually been built when her great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria, was on the throne.

The venue was Kelvingrove Art Galleries and Museum, originally opened in 1901.

In 2003 it closed for a £35 million, three-year-long refurbishment - and in September 2006, the Queen officially opened the newly-look museum.

Hundreds of people greeted the monarch as she arrived at Kelvingrove.

The galleries were closed to the public as the Queen saw a range of exhibitions, including Scottish Identity In Art, the French Impressionists, the Italian Renaissance Collection, the Dutch Art Masters and Scotland's First People.

She also spent some time admiring Salvador Dali's celebrated Christ of St John of the Cross.

She said: "I know the renewal of this famous and much cherished landmark has been a long held aspiration.

"Today, we have seen something of the transformation which the imagination, support and labours of so many have brought about, amid a wider renaissance taking hold in the city."

Lord Provost Liz Cameron said: "I have seen the Queen animated before, but she really was delighted today."

Five years previously, in July 2001, the Queen was in Glasgow to open another city landmark - a recently-built one, this time.

After declaring the £75 million Glasgow Science Centre officially open, she viewed the science mall while the Duke of Edinburgh was taken to the underground base of the Glasgow Tower, before being shown a periscope which overlooks the entire complex.

The Queen spent more than half an hour touring a number of the 300 exhibits, including a series of pods offering an interactive display on genetics and the human body.

She also viewed a small mechanical puppet show explaining how Dolly the sheep was created by scientists at the Roslin Institute, near Edinburgh.

The royal couple had touched down in a helicopter in Renfrewshire for their first official engagement, when the Queen cut the ribbon at Strathclyde Fire Brigade's new hi-tech command centre in Thornhill, Johnstone.

They then travelled to the Science Centre.

Later, the Queen arrived in Renfield Street - home to the Evening Times and its sister papers, The Herald and the Sunday Herald, as well as to SMG, the then owners of the newspapers and Scottish Television.

The couple met staff of all three papers and saw journalists working on stories about the royal visit.

Charles McGhee, the then editor of the Evening Times, showed the Queen how a busy evening paper operates.

He said: ''It was a great honour to welcome the Queen to the Evening Times and show her how Scotland's biggest and busiest evening newspaper is produced.

''Using the latest digital technology we were able to demonstrate how a picture of the Queen arriving was prepared for the front page of a special edition of the newspaper in just a few minutes.''

The Queen enjoyed a live run of a specially-written episode of the long-running drama High Road, about a royal visit to the fictional village of Glendarroch.

Mark Grindle, the producer, said the Queen had been amused and had smiled as she watched the mini-show. He said: ''She was very interested in how we make the programme and where we film it.''

Gwyneth Guthrie, who played Mrs Mack in the show, said: ''It was a great honour to meet Her Majesty. She asked us a lot of questions. She was very interested in the programme and the fact that it was filmed on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.''

The Queen has paid many visits to Glasgow and west-central Scotland since her Coronation in 1953.

In July of this year - 62 years after she was crowned Queen - she arrived in Glasgow once again, to open two ultra-modern hospitals, one of which has been named in her honour.

Accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, she visited the £842 million South Glasgow University Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children as part of her week of royal engagements in Scotland.

In a ceremony she unveiled plaques officially renaming them The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow and The Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow.

The couple were greeted by cheering crowds waving flags when they arrived at the hospital. They were given a tour of the children's hospital and the Queen met four young girls in one of the wards, one of whom was wearing a tiara for the occasion.

The re-naming of the £842 million South Glasgow University Hospital was the source of some controversy - a rare discordant note in the history of the monarch's visits north of the border.

Certainly, the Queen xxxxxxxx

Glasgow's Lord Provost Sadie Docherty said yesterday: xxxxxx