"When we return to Portland, we will be meek, like lambs, but we will never have to return to Portland", - who among the fans of art Bulat Okudzhava does not know these lines ?! Meanwhile, and of these fans, few people know about what Portland is talking about. In fact, in the United States there are two cities with the same name: one is Portland on the west coast, in Maine, and the second is on the opposite side of the North American continent, at the same latitude, but in Oregon. And none of them has anything to do with the song.

But it was the citizens of Portland in Maine who took the fourth place in the country in 2013 . as the most pleasant people in the magazine's version "Travel and Recreation" . Yes, and in general the city always takes a leading position in surveys and studies of various magazines . Ninth place in the list of "Best US cities for hipsters" in 2013 . from the same "Travel and Leisure »; first place among the "Delicious little cities of America" ​​in 2009 . from Bon Appetit; in the same year - the first place from "Forbes" among the "Best American cities for life" . Not surprising: because the standard of living in Portland is one of the highest in the US . And according to Men's Health, Portland is in ninth place in the United States by the level of education of the population .

How to get to Portland

There is an international airport in Portland, although direct flights from Russia do not fly here yet. Also there is a large passenger port where ferries go, for example, from the Canadian Yarmouth

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A bit of history

The location of Portland has largely determined the national composition of the city . More one-fifth of the population of Portland and still form riotous Irish heads . In addition to Gaeltz, the natives of England, Italy, France and Germany live in the city . As early as the 17th century, the British founded a colony here on the site of the settlement of the Indians, and for a while The city was named Falmouth . The colony had several times destroyed and the same Indians, but at the end of the 18th century, Portland finally settled on the map, and in the early 19th century even became the capital of the state (later, this status was adopted by Augusta) . Nevertheless, the city remained (and continues to be) the largest seaport and, accordingly, the center of commerce: water in Portland Bay does not freeze even in winter .

At the Independence Day in 1866, a huge fire broke out in Portland, in which one third of the city's inhabitants actually lost their homes.

Entertainment, excursions and the sights of Portland (Maine)

Despite the terrible conditions Consequences of the Great Fire, in Portland there are several historical buildings that must be examined. One of the impressive old buildings of the city is the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, erected in 1869 on Cumberland Avenue. This is a neo-Gothic building with a sharp tower about 60 m high, which for a long time was the highest construction in the city. Another fine example of Renaissance architecture in the style of the Second Empire is the granite building of the old customs house (1872).

Very interesting is the mansion Victoria (also known as the Mansion-Libby mansion), a beautiful example of the architecture of rich 19th-century US homes. Now in the mansion there is a museum. And in the building of the end of the 18th century, the house-museum of G.W. Longfellow was built on Congress Street - the childhood of the great writer was here. In addition, Portland has a museum for the Maine narrow gauge railway, the International Museum of Cryptozoology, a small museum of African culture and a planetarium in South Harbor.

The 17-story Franklin Towers building, the construction of which was completed in 1969 . At a height of 62 m this gloomy building on the corner of Franklin Street - the highest in Portland . Another interesting building is officially named "447 Congress Street", but unofficially everyone calls it Building Bp and temperature: this inscription flaunts over the main entrance . This house was built in the form of a 12-storey rectangular tower in 1924 ., and in 1964 at its summit appeared a placard with the corresponding name of the data . Later the scoreboard was removed, but the city residents were so unhappy that in 1999 . it again appeared on the building .

The Portland Art Museum was founded in 1882 . and is located in the area of ​​the city, which is called Arts District - "Arts District" . This is the area around Congress Street, the part that is closer to the West End . The collection of the museum includes more than 17,000 pieces of decorative and applied art from the 18th century to the present day . The basis and core of the collection is a collection of works by the artists of the State of Maine . In addition to this, the largest museum in the Arts District, there are many other galleries, theaters, museums and schools . In particular, here are Mu the State Children's Museum, the non-profit modern gallery SPICE and the Merrill audience of 1911 . buildings with a large memorial organ Kottschmar .

For walking on foot, the long historic Baxter Boulevard around the Back Cove Bay, the Deering Oakes Park with a pond, tennis courts and playgrounds, the east and west promenades , Lincoln Park, open air in the year 1866 . On Forest Avenue it is possible to reach the Baxter Woods nature reserve where an untouched forest grows on an area of ​​130 thousand . kv . m . The historical cemetery Evergreen adjoins the reserve . It will be pleasant and walk along Park Street, where there were townhouses of the first half of the 19th century . This green and shady street reminds the streets of good old England .

Speaking of Portland, you can not fail to mention the local cuisine . The city has won many times the culinary capital of the state, the coast and almost the country . A huge number of establishments are concentrated in the Arts District and the Old Port, but generally speaking, you can eat here almost anywhere. . The city is considered the birthplace of the "Italian sandwich" a name for a sandwich submarine that is made in a long baguette . There are many food and beverage festivals in the city - in particular, the national, Greek, Italian, vegetarian and vegan festivals, the Main State Brewers Festival and so on . And on Mondays and environments m on Monument Square (on Saturday in summer and on Sunday in winter - in the park of Diring Oaks) the farmer's market, one of the top ten in the country all year round .