Iconic Sights In The City

The rst time you y into Boston, over its handsome jumble of islands, bays, rivers and inlets, it’s tricky to pick out the city’s iconic sights unless you know exactly where to look. The visual overload can be disorienting, but once you’re on the ground, a steady procession of signature Boston landmarks quickly takes shape.

- Mike Hodgkinson

A great place to start is the unmistakable dome of the Massachusetts State House, which on blue-sky days glints like a golden nugget in a bowl of walnuts. Although it was built in 1798 by splendidly named architect Charles Bulfinch, more than three-quarters of a century would pass before the gilding was applied to the dome. At the pinnacle sits a wooden pine cone, also gilded.