Cities most like Europe

pltrgyst wrote:

One of the things I like about Europe is the old architecture.
Obviously, with the USA & Canada being younger, one will not
see buildings built during the 1700s. That said, what cities in the
USA or Canada will be most like a European city? I would guess
that Montreal would top the list because of the French influence.
Any others?

US: Washington, Boston, San Francisco.

I would put Philadelphia ahead of either Washington or Boston. It has a
compact and lived-in historical center, and it has whole streets and
neighborhoods where most of the building are from the 1600's.

Elfreth's Alley, for instance is a completely intact 17th century
street, most of whose houses are privately occupied. There are several
other intact historical residential neighborhoods, in addition to the
historic monuments.

Barbara

Casey wrote:
I challenge you to find 2000 year old buildings in Europe.

The Pantheon in Rome is pretty close to 2000 years old, IIRC. A
great example of how long concrete can last, since it was one of
the first Roman buildings built with it.

On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 18:52:51 +0200 in rec.travel.usa-canada,
Barbara Vaughan wrote:

In what sense is the Pantheon a ruin? Do you mean the hole in the roof?
If so, it was intentional.

it's not worth wasting our time arguing with the ignorant.

"Casey" wrote in message link.net...
One of the things I like about Europe is the old architecture.
Obviously, with the USA & Canada being younger, one will not
see buildings built during the 1700s. That said, what cities in the
USA or Canada will be most like a European city? I would guess
that Montreal would top the list because of the French influence.
Any others?


Casey

Can't believe no one has mentioned Milwaukee, WI. Besides the
obvious, German-influenced downtown, old industry, smokestacks, the
horizon dotted with church steeples always reminds me of being
somewhere in Germany.

"Casey" wrote in message
link.net...
One of the things I like about Europe is the old architecture.
Obviously, with the USA & Canada being younger, one will not
see buildings built during the 1700s. That said, what cities in the
USA or Canada will be most like a European city? I would guess
that Montreal would top the list because of the French influence.
Any others?

Quebec beats Montreal hands down.

--
Bill Pittman; change for e-mail as indicated

On 14 Oct 2003 01:45:51 -0700, (Icono Clast) wrote:

"Casey" wrote:
one will not see buildings built during the 1700s.

Really? Most people who visit San Francisco also visit Mission
Dolores. It was built in 1776. Some people who visit San Francisco
also visit the Presidio Officers' Club which was also built in 1776.

This is a very old thread, but I decided to catch up on it today.

No dispute about the Presidio, but what I recall from the literature I
got during my visit to Mission Dolores is that the current Mission
Dolores isn't the original one. The original one burned down in a
fire. Do I have a false memory?

Michael

If you would like to send a private email to me, please take out the TRASH, so to speak. Please do not email me something which you also posted.

Quebec City, especially the "Old Town" has lots of "European" flavour.

"Pan" wrote in message
...
On 14 Oct 2003 01:45:51 -0700, (Icono Clast) wrote:

"Casey" wrote:
one will not see buildings built during the 1700s.

Really? Most people who visit San Francisco also visit Mission
Dolores. It was built in 1776. Some people who visit San Francisco
also visit the Presidio Officers' Club which was also built in 1776.

This is a very old thread, but I decided to catch up on it today.

No dispute about the Presidio, but what I recall from the literature I
got during my visit to Mission Dolores is that the current Mission
Dolores isn't the original one. The original one burned down in a
fire. Do I have a false memory?

Michael

Pan wrote:
Icono Clast wrote:

"Casey" wrote:
one will not see buildings built during the 1700s.

Really? Most people who visit San Francisco also visit Mission
Dolores. It was built in 1776. Some people who visit San Francisco
also visit the Presidio Officers' Club which was also built in 1776.

No dispute about the Presidio, but what I recall from the literature I
got during my visit to Mission Dolores is that the current Mission
Dolores isn't the original one. The original one burned down in a
fire. Do I have a false memory?

Your question made me wonder whether something's wrong with my memory
as I recalled no such fire. Correctly, it seems:

The text following the URL, absent mention of a fire, was copied from
it:

http://www.californiamissions.com/ca...y/dolores.html

The mission called Dolores was founded October 9, 1776. The padres
chose a site for Mission San Francisco de Asís beside a little inlet
called Laguna Dolores. The nearby pueblo was named Yerba Buena. As
time went by the town took the name of Saint Francis, while the
mission more popularly became known as Dolores. Even though located
beside one of the finest harbors in all the world, Mission Dolores was
handicapped from the outset by lack of suitable space for agriculture,
competition for that space from the citizens of the Spanish pueblo,
and the damp and foggy climate. Initially the Indians were greatly
attracted to the mission, but ample food and protection from enemies
had to be measured against fatal epidemics of measles, the worldly
attractions of the pueblo, and the free life of "unenlightened"
brothers across the bay. Desertions threatened the mission's
existence.

Nothing was ever the same after the discovery of gold in California.
The population of the sleepy pueblo rose from a mere 900 to over
20,000 in only a year. Mexican land reforms had taken all the mission
possessions, so that just a few of the buildings were left to return
to the Church. soon there were more Irish than Spanish grave markers
in the old cemetery.

One of the greatest recorded earthquakes of all time shook San
Francisco in 1906, but the thick walls of the old mission church stood
firm. Today it remains the oldest building in fabulous San Francisco,
that romantic city beside the famous Golden Gate. Inside, the church
is little different than when it ministered to dusky Indian neophytes,
an island of peace and calm in the midst of the busy city. The Mission
is now called Dolores.

Time seems to stand still at old Mission Dolores. The oldest building
in fabulous San Francisco, the mission church came through the great
earthquake and fire of 1906 unscathed. Its interior differs little
from its original appearance. Decorated redwood ceiling beams remain
as created by Indian workmen. Wooden columns remain painted to
resemble Italian marble which they are not. Outside the church, only
the old cemetery is as in yesteryear. Modern Mission Dolores Basilica
and the teeming city by the Golden Gate crowd around the venerable
church, which is the only remaining mission building.