| The highest point of the Washington, DC is in
Fort Reno Park in the northwest of the city at
approx. 125 m height. The metropolis is one of the
greenest cities in the USA and is characterized by
wide green spaces and parks. The climate here is
subtropical and humid and can be oppressive in
summer. Pleasant travel times are spring and
autumn. The winters are usually mild. You won't
find tall skyscrapers like in New York, because the
height of buildings is strictly capped by law.
An exception to this is the tallest stone
structure on earth, the Washington
Monument (169 m). The Washington National
Cathedral and the tower of the old post
office are also strikingly high.
The best known sights are the White House (official
residence of the U.S. President) and the Capitol (seat
of the House of Representatives and the Senate). In
the Capitol is also the National Statuary Hall
Collection in which to statues of two famous
personalities of the states can visit.
The White House is one of the most famous
buildings in the world and a United States National
Historic Landmark. It has 132 rooms and is
surrounded by gardens, including the Jacqueline
Kennedy Garden and the White House Rose Garden. In
the Advent season, the National Christmas Tree is in
front of the official residence.
The capital of the USA is of course
peppered with sights such as the Jefferson
Memorial (with the bronze statue of Thomas
Jefferson) surrounded by Japanese decorative
churches and the many Smithsonian Museums (American
Art Museum, the Aerospace Museum (Center
for Earth and Planetary Studies), the
Conservation and Research Center, the Cooper Hewitt
Museum, the National Museum of American History,
the National Postal Museum, the National World
War II Museum, the National Museum of Natural
History, the Smithsonian National Zoological Park
and the National Portrait Gallery (with
numerous portraits of the people who shaped the
USA).
The variety and size of the museums are almost
exhaustive and you should bring plenty of time to
explore the many museums. Washington DC offers
plenty of employment potential for history buffs as
well as fans of art, culture and science.
Art lovers will love visiting the National
Museum of Women in the Arts, one of the largest
museums in the world. Here you can only find works
of art made by women (including works by Angelika
Kaufmann, Clara Peeters, Rosa Bonheur and Frida
Kahlo.
If you are interested in the history of aviation,
you should visit the National Air and Space
Museum, where you can find numerous
historically important aircraft, including the Spirit
of St. Louis, with which Charles Lindbergh
crossed the Atlantic in May 1927. The United
States Holocaust Museum is dedicated to a very
serious topic and is very busy, so you should look
for tickets early.
The National Museum of the American Indian is
also impressive, where you can find out more about
the past and life of the indigenous peoples of
America. On the other hand, you can see and learn
more about Africa in the National Museum of African
Art.
The National Mall in the National
Mall and Memorial Park also houses numerous
memorials such as the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean
War Memorial, the Martin Luther King Memorial and
the National World War II Memorial. As the largest
library in the world, the Library of Congress really fulfills almost
every reading request.
The Roman Catholic sanctuary of the Basilica
of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception acts
as a national shrine, it is one of the largest
churches worldwide and has an impressive
Neo-Romanesque-Neo-Byzantine dome.
No longer in Washington DC, but not only the
Pentagon, but also Washington's heroic cemetery Arlington
National Cemetary with its many white
tombstones, where, among other things, the grave of
John F. Kennedy can be found, is located in adjacent
Arlington. |
