Centennial Park

It’s a very peaceful place within a pretty crowded area. This was one of the first outings we had with our daughter.

The Parthenon is a must see, and there are free events during the summer such as swing dancing and Shakespeare in the Park that are quite fun.

I fed squirrels here, right out of my hand. Amazing view and the Parthenon, too.

The Parthenon is well-worth visiting — though, really, I preferred Athena without the paint.

Not far from the Vanderbilt University campus, this park was the site of the Tennessee Centennial celebration in the 19th century. Before it had music studios and the Grand Ole Opry, Nashville was known for the number and excellence of its colleges and universities, earning it the sobriquet “Athens of the South.”

In keeping with this theme, a 1/3 scale model of the Parthenon of Athens was built of plaster and lathe in the center of the Centennial Park for the exposition. (“Model” suggests that it is tiny, but it is still a very sizeable building.) It was so beloved of the people of Nashville that they eventually replaced it in more permanent materials. It is concrete, not marble, but it does give one the feel of the proportions of the famous building in Greece.