Historic Providence © Providence Warwick CVB
The historic city of Providence has recently been reborn –
in the past few years the city fathers have been overseeing the
re-routing of rivers, rebuilding of railways, upgrading of
dilapidated neighbourhoods and the building of a modern convention
centre, an upmarket shopping mall and a beautiful riverfront park.
Most of the renovation has been undertaken in Italian style, with
imported artisans and artists from Florence being responsible for
most of the building work.
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,...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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