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 Historic Providence © Providence Warwick CVB Despite the modernisation Providence remains known and loved for its abundance of historic and cultural attractions, and it’s three and a half centuries of history remain alive and well on the streets in the form of scores of perfectly preserved colonial, Greek Revival and Victorian houses and public buildings. With 12 colleges and universities full of young people, the city’s nightlife is constantly buzzing, and Providence is also renowned for its excellent restaurants – it has more restaurants per capita than any other major American city. Providence was founded in 1635 by a dissident Puritan from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Roger Williams. Williams established the city as a refuge for freethinkers and religious dissenters, encouraging independence of spirit. The city still reflects this independent spirit today in its academic and cultural realms and with its recent renaissance seems set to keep on moving, countering trends in other New England cities. Attractions  Benefit Street, Providence © Providence Warwick CVB Benefit Street One of America's most famous walks is down Providence's Benefit Street, lined with an impressive concentration of original Colonial homes. The 'mile of history' takes in all the well-restored buildings that were home to merchants and sea captains. The street, overlooking the city's waterfront, also features churches and museums. The area is cared for by the Providence Preservation Society, which provides information about the buildings and escorted tours from their office at 21 Meeting Street.Telephone: Providence Preservation Socieity: (401) 831 7440  John Brown House, Providence © Providence Warwick CVB John Brown House The three-storey mansion on Power Street, designed by Joseph Brown for his brother John, in 1786, was once described by John Quincy Adams as 'the most magnificent and elegant private mansion that I have ever seen on this continent'. Indeed the formal Georgian style mansion is breathtaking, with its elaborate woodwork, French wallpaper and 18th-century locally made furnishings. The house also features silver and decorative oriental objects d'art, gathered by John Brown who made his fortune trading with China, as well as the slave trade.Address: 52 Power Street; Website: www.rihs.org/Museums.html; Telephone: (401) 273 7507; Opening time: Tours Tuesday to Friday from 1.30pm, Saturday from 10.30am (April to December), and from 10.30am on Friday and Saturday only (January to March); Admission: $8 (adults), $4 (children 7-17)  Renoir at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum Rhode Island School of Design Museum The small but comprehensive museum attached to the Rhode Island design college features many changing exhibitions, particularly relating to textiles. The museum's permanent collection includes the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller collection of Japanese prints, Chinese terracotta, Greek statuary and some French Impressionist paintings. Highlights are works by masters such as Monet, Cézanne, Rodin and Picasso. There is also an American section containing paintings by Gilbert Stuart, John Singleton Copley and John Singer Sargent.Address: 224 Benefit Street; Website: www.risd.edu/museum_visit.cfm; Telephone: (401) 454 6500; Opening time: Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm; third Thursday monthly until 9pm. Guided tours on Saturdays and Sundays 2pm; Admission: $10 (adults), $3 (children 5-18). Free on Sundays 10am to 1pm; Fridays 12pm to 1:30pm; the third Thursday monthly 5pm to 9pm; and last Saturday of every month  Giraffe © Jude Roger Williams Park Zoo Providence's zoo is situated in a beautiful 174-hectare (430-acre) Victorian park accessed from Elmwood Avenue on the south edge of the city. The Roger Williams Park also contains two other popular attractions, a museum of natural history and a planetarium, as well as offering a relaxing spot to picnic, feed the ducks, ride a pony or rent a paddleboat. The zoo is home to more than 900 animals from 156 different species, with display areas divided into different habitats, including Tropical America, the Plains of Africa and Australasia. Special features are a walk-through aviary and underwater viewing areas for polar bears and seals.Address: 1000 Elmwood Avenue; Website: www.rogerwilliamsparkzoo.org; Telephone: (401) 785 3510; Transport: Bus 12 or 20 from Kennedy Plaza; Opening time: Daily 9am to 5pm (mid-April to October); 9am to 4pm in winter; Admission: $12 (adults), $6 (children 3-12). From 2 January to 31 March entry is half price  State Capitol, Providence © Providence Warwick CVB State Capitol Rhode Island’s magnificent white marble Georgian state house was inspired by London’s St Paul’s Cathedral and the US Capitol. It has the distinction of sporting one of only four self-supporting domes in the world, the others being St Peter’s Basilica, the Taj Mahal, and the Minnesota State Capitol. The beautiful building in Smith Street houses the original Rhode Island Charter of 1663 and an historic portrait of George Washington painted by Gilbert Stuart, a Rhode Island native. The Washington portrait is renowned for being the one used on the American dollar bill.Address: Smith Street; Website: www.state.ri.us; Telephone: (401) 222 3983, or 222 2357; Opening time: Guided tours of the capitol are by appointment Monday to Friday, on the hour every hour from 9am; last tour at 1pm. Self-guided tours can be undertaken Monday to Friday 9am to 3pm  Waterfire, Waterplace Park Basin © Providence Warwick CVB Waterplace Park Providence's renovated downtown waterfront is known as Waterplace Park, a haven of romantic Venetian footbridges and cobblestone walkways that has won national and international design awards. The river walk was the centre of the shipping trade in the city's early years, sited at the junction of three rivers. Today it draws enthusiastic crowds to the popular Waterfire events, held several times a year. This multimedia festival involves nearly 100 blazing braziers that rise from the river, seemingly to dance atop the water to the tune of rhythmic music. Waterfire events are not held to schedule and visitors can find out from the visitor information centre in the clock tower (open daily from 10am to 4pm) when the next is to be held, or consult the Waterfire website www.waterfire.org Free concerts and plays are also frequently held in the Waterplace Amphitheatre.Telephone: (401) 272 3111 |
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