![]() One of Savannah’s most hauntingly beautiful landscapes is the historic Bonaventure Cemetery. Savannah’s port trade was long ago moved up the river, and today Factors Walk is a quaint and often-photographed attraction, its picturesque ironwork bridges now leading to tourist shops and small boutiques, restaurants and hotels. The solution to both these problems, constructed over a period of several years in the mid-19th century, was a series of retaining walls to contain the bluff, with the reinforced embankment on the riverward side of Bay Street connected to the upper levels of River Street’s warehouses by a network of iron bridges and walkways. The people working on Bay Street needed a quick way to get to the buildings fronting on River Street - and the city needed a way to stop the bluff sliding into the river. ![]() While the city proper sits atop a 40-foot high sandy bluff, the warehouses and offices that processed the cotton and other goods that passed through the port of Savannah were built down at the river level. This architectural peculiarity is probably more intriguing than it is impressive, but the series of structures, spanning several blocks to either side of City Hall, is well worth a look if you have any interest in history and the urban landscape.įactors Walk – so-called because it was used primarily by the cotton factors who worked on Savannah’s 19th-century riverfront – is a series of split-level streets and footbridges made necessary by Savannah’s geography. ![]() The cathedral, which is one of the largest in the southern states, is among the Historic District’s most visited attractions and landmarks, and a must-see even if you just want to admire its external architecture.įor a small donation, however, you can also go inside to better appreciate the cathedral’s beautiful stained glass windows and its outstanding collection of murals, the latter a comparatively rare feature of American places of worship. ![]() This striking cathedral is one of the most recognizable features of Savannah’s skyline, its twin 200-foot white spires rising above neighboring Lafayette Square. Tours of the church’s history and its role in the Underground Railroad are available most days each week (tours are currently suspended due to coronavirus). This church was built entirely with African-American labor in the years before the Civil War, and is a National Historic Landmark. While you are at the Haitian Monument, don’t miss the First African Baptist Church, also on Franklin Square. On River Street, just behind City Hall, the African-American Monument recognizes Savannah’s history of slavery and the role of its Black inhabitants in its history and culture.Ī few blocks away in Franklin Square you can also see the Haitian Monument, which commemorates the hundreds of Black soldiers from the former French colony of Saint-Domingue who fought in the Siege of Savannah during the Revolutionary War. Now, two major monuments in downtown Savannah commemorate the substantial role played by people of African descent in the history of the city and the nation. History in Savannah is everywhere, but until recently there were few visible representations of the Black side of the city’s story. 3 – Monuments To The Black Contribution To Savannah If you want to take the best pictures, visit early or late in the day, when the light is softer and the risk of the bright white fountain appearing overexposed in your image is lessened. The park, established in the 1850s, is one of the oldest and most charming in the country, with mossy oaks and flowering shrubs arranged around its very distinctive central fountain, Savannah’s signature landmark. No visit to Savannah is complete without seeing Forsyth Park and its famous fountain. Many of the squares further off the beaten path are worth a visit too, pretty and peaceful amidst the more heavily residential setting of the eastern and southwestern Historic District. The most well known squares – Johnson, Wright, Chippewa, Madison and Monterey – are along Bull Street, which is also where you will find Savannah’s oldest and biggest monuments, erected in the 19th century to its founders and military heroes. These little parks offer a beautiful respite from the city, filled with monuments, moss-hung live oaks, and benches where you can rest and admire some of the best of Savannah’s architecture. If there is one thing that makes Savannah truly unique it is its system of 20+ squares, laid out in a centuries-old plan that has never been replicated on the same scale anywhere else in the world. ![]()
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