Palace of Fine Arts

The Palace of Fine Arts is one of the few survivors of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, the world's fair held in the city that year. Designed by Bernard Maybeck, with William Gladstone Merchant also credited, it was built as a place to exhibit art. The original plaster structure was eventually demolished in 1964 and rebuilt in concrete, with work finished in 1974.

The centrepiece is an open rotunda, 162 feet high, framed by curving colonnades and reflected in a small lagoon. The lagoon was meant to mirror classical European settings, and the effect works best when you walk slowly around the water and watch the dome appear and disappear between the columns. The original dome murals by Robert Reid were not recreated in the rebuilt version, and the tall columned pylons were added in 1973 and 1974. The lagoon and walkways were renovated as part of a seismic retrofit completed in 2009. Today the site belongs to the City of San Francisco.

The grounds are free to visit, and there is no need for a ticket or a plan. People come to picnic on the lawns, stroll around the lake, and take photographs. On the far side of the colonnade, the long curved exhibition hall, one of the largest single-storey buildings in the city, hosts events such as weddings and trade fairs, and the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre has 966 seats.

Early morning and late afternoon bring the softest light and the fewest people. Allow 30 minutes to an hour, longer if you bring lunch. The National Park Service sums up the setting as a classical Roman rotunda with curved colonnades in a park, and it suggests picnicking, strolling by the lake and taking photographs. The paths around the lagoon are flat, which makes this an easy stop for families with pushchairs and for anyone who wants a gentle walk.

The Palace stands at the edge of the Marina District, on land that once belonged to the Presidio, and it combines well with other sights in the area. It is a natural stop on a day spent along the northern waterfront, and a good place to rest before or after the walk to the bridge.