Centennial Park, das Nashville-Parthenon & die Kunstszene
Nashville's Centennial Park (the 132-acre urban park in Midtown Nashville, home to the full-scale Parthenon replica (the only full-scale replica of the ancient Athenian Parthenon in the world, built 1897 for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition and housing a fine arts museum and the 42-foot (13m) replica of Athena Parthenos)) and arts scene define Nashville beyond music.
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The Parthenon — Nashville's Full-Scale Greek Temple Replica
Centennial Park's Parthenon (West End Avenue, built 1897 for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition, permanent concrete version 1931) is a full-scale replica of the Athens Parthenon (30.5m tall, 69m long) — the interior houses the Athena Parthenos statue (12.8m, the largest indoor sculpture in the Western world, completed 1990 by sculptor Alan LeQuire using ancient written descriptions); the original Nashville Parthenon also houses an art gallery (12 19th-century American paintings in the ground floor galleries); free exterior, $6 interior.
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Frist Art Museum — Nashville's Fine Arts Institution
The Frist Art Museum (919 Broadway, in the 1933 Art Deco post office building, opened 2001) is Nashville's primary fine arts museum — the Frist has no permanent collection, instead hosting 12–15 major travelling exhibitions per year (recent: Frida Kahlo, Impressionism, Islamic geometric art); this curatorial strategy means the museum always has fresh content; the building's Art Deco interior (marble floors, brass detailing, original post office windows) is as significant as the exhibitions; free for children 18 and under.
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Tennessee State Capitol — Greek Revival on a Hilltop
The Tennessee State Capitol (600 Charlotte Avenue, Charlotte Park hill, 1859, William Strickland architect, who is buried in the north wall of the building as he died before completion) is one of the finest Greek Revival buildings in America — James K. Polk (11th US President) and his wife are buried in a tomb in the south garden; the capitol dome (unusual for a state capitol — a tower rather than a dome) is based on the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens; free tours Monday–Friday, guided and self-guided.
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Nashville Symphony and Schermerhorn Symphony Center
The Schermerhorn Symphony Center (One Symphony Place, 2006, David Schwarz architect, designed to look like a 19th-century European concert hall) is home to the Nashville Symphony — the hall's European sound (achieved by a hall-within-a-hall design with adjustable oak panels) has been rated among the 10 best concert acoustic environments in North America; the Nashville Symphony's recording label (Naxos) has released 40+ recordings; the building's southern Neo-Georgian facade sits between the Country Music Hall of Fame and Bridgestone Arena.
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Cheekwood Estate — 55 Acres of Garden and American Art
Cheekwood Estate & Museum of Art (Forrest Park Drive, west Nashville, 1932 Georgian mansion in 55 acres of English-landscape garden, open daily, $20) is Nashville's finest cultural institution outside downtown — the Maxwell House coffee fortune funded the estate; the museum (7 galleries of American art, 1880–present) is surrounded by botanical gardens (dogwood collection, Japanese garden, camellia collection, wildflower trail); the sculpture trail (outdoor, 30+ works) extends through the entire property; most crowded in spring when 150,000 tulips bloom.
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Tennessee State Museum — From Indigenous to Civil War
The Tennessee State Museum (1000 Rosa L Parks Boulevard, 2018, purpose-built facility, free admission) is Nashville's comprehensive history museum — the permanent galleries cover 15,000 years: Paleo-Indian hunters (Clovis-era projectile points), Cherokee Nation (the Trail of Tears, 1838, the forced removal of 17,000 Cherokee from Tennessee is documented in detail), Civil War Tennessee (Nashville fell to Union forces February 1862 and served as the Union Army's western headquarters), and Reconstruction-era African American history.