From 1857 onwards, the spacious boulevards and grand houses of
Back Bay were built as each portion of the tidal flats of
the Charles River was filled in. Thus a walk through the area from
east to west provides an object lesson in Victorian architecture.
One of the most architecturally significant - if not the prettiest
- of its buildings is the Romanesque Trinity Church ($3) on
Clarendon Street, supported on four thousand wooden pilings that
have to be kept permanently moist. Towering over the church is
Boston's signature skyscraper, the John Hancock Tower , an
elegant wedge designed by I.M. Pei, and whose rooftop observatory
affords a glorious panorama of Boston. (At the time of publication
the observatory was closed indefinitely due to security concerns;
call 617/572-6429 for the latest details.) Construction defects
caused the Hancock Tower to shed three thousand panes of glass
during its first year; the cost of insuring a neighboring hotel
against damage was so prohibitive that it was cheaper for the
developers to buy it outright. Copley Square nearby is an
upmarket shopping mall with several good snack bars and
restaurants.
The Christian Science Center at Huntington and
Massachusetts avenues is the "Mother Church" of the First Church of
Christ, Scientist, and the home of the Christian Science
Monitor newspaper; Nelson Mandela made a point of paying a
personal visit in 1990 to thank the paper for its support of his
release from prison. The complex houses the Mapparium
(Mon-Sat 10am-4pm; free), an impressive glass globe of the world,
through which you can walk on a footbridge. Part of its interest is
that it was built in 1932, and thus shows national boundaries as
they were then.
Further south, beyond the boundaries of Back Bay and a long
enough walk to warrant taking the Green subway line instead (take
the train marked "E"), is the Museum of Fine Arts at 465
Huntington Ave (Mon & Tues 10am-4.45pm, Wed-Fri 10am-9.45pm,
Sat & Sun 10am-5.45pm; $14, which includes a free repeat visit
within 30 days, under-17s free, ). From its magnificent collections
of Asian and ancient Egyptian art onwards, this holds sufficient
marvels to detain you all day. High points include Edward Hopper's
tranquil, hopeful Room in Brooklyn (American Modern room);
Andrew Wyeth's Corner of the Woods (William Coolidge room);
Degas' The Little Dancer ; Gauguin's Where do we come
from, What are we, Where are we going ? (Impressionists room);
and Millet's The Sower (English and French room). Don't miss
the American Decorative Arts , either: a gloriously
nostalgic jamboree of coffee urns, speak-your-weight machines and
reconstructed living rooms. The I.M. Pei-designed West Wing holds
special exhibits and the contemporary art collection.
A smaller-scale and rather more idiosyncratic collection of
fine arts can be found at the Isabella Stewart Gardner
Museum , down the road at 280 The Fenway (Tues-Sun 11am-5pm;
$10, weekends $11). Styled after a fifteenth-century Venetian
villa, the Gardner has a stunning central courtyard, and is crammed
with a hodgepodge of works collected by the eccentric Boston
socialite. Some of the most interesting pieces are unlabeled, such
as the tapestry of a lion, a sea lion and an elephant above the
door of the Italian room, or the sculpted pigeon on the nearby
windowsill. Relaxing weekend music concerts are held Saturday and
Sunday at 1.30pm and cost an additional $5.