San Francisco Best Things to Do. Coit Tower Hike for 360 Degree Views скачать в хорошем качестве

San Francisco Best Things to Do. Coit Tower Hike for 360 Degree Views

Let's take a trip hiking the scenic garden steps of Telegraph hill to Coit Tower San Francisco. As you wander the trails that wind around the tower and down the hill, you may hear the raucous chatter of the neighborhood’s most famous (and noisiest) residents, the flock of parrots featured in the 2005 film “The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.” Coit Tower is a slender white concrete column rising from the top of Telegraph Hill, has been an emblem of San Francisco’s skyline since its completion in 1933, a welcoming beacon to visitors and residents alike. Its observation deck, tickets in gift shop, provides 360-degree views of the city and bay, including the Golden Gate and Bay bridges. The simple fluted tower is named for Lillie Hitchcock Coit, a wealthy eccentric and patron of the city’s firefighters. The murals inside the tower’s base were painted in 1934 by a group of artists employed by the Public Works of Art Project, a precursor to the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and depict life in California during the Depression. When violence broke out during the 1934 longshoremen’s strike, controversy over the radical content in some of the panels became quite heated. Some of the most controversial elements were painted over, and the tower was padlocked for several months before the frescoes were finally opened to the public in the fall of 1934. Telegraph Hill takes its name from a semaphore telegraph erected on its summit in 1850 to alert residents to the arrival of ships. Pioneer Park, which surrounds Coit Tower, was established in 1876 on the former site of the telegraph station. Coit Tower Cafe Open Daily (9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.) Just a few steps away from Coit Tower is the Coit Tower Café, offering hot and cold drinks, pastries, paninis, pizza by the slice and frozen yogurt. Please note that food and drinks are not allowed in Coit Tower. Parking at the tower is very limited, and at peak times the line of cars waiting to reach the lot can be very long. Muni’s #39 Coit bus travels between Coit Tower and Fisherman’s Wharf and North Beach. For a scenic hike to the tower, climb Telegraph Hill’s eastern slope via the Filbert Street stairs, which pass through the Grace Marchant Garden, or the Greenwich Street stairs. You can also walk from North Beach on the western slope of Telegraph hill on Greenwich or Filbert streets to Coit Tower but it's not as scenic as the eastern park slopes. The simple fluted tower is named for Lillie Hitchcock Coit, a wealthy eccentric and patron of the city’s firefighters. Coit died in 1929, leaving a substantial bequest “for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city I have always loved.” The funds were used to build both the tower and a monument to Coit’s beloved volunteer firefighters, in nearby Washington Square. The tower was designed by the firm of Arthur Brown, Jr., architect of San Francisco’s City Hall. Contrary to popular belief, Coit Tower was not designed to resemble a firehose nozzle. It appears to be designed to look like the smoke stacks of BATTERSEA POWER STATION built 1929 - 35 in London on the Thames River. #sanfrancisco #sanfranciscocalifornia #tours