Nashville - geography.

« The metropolitan area has 10,549.3 sq km (4,073.1 sq mi).

The important cities and towns in the metropolitan region include Franklin, site of a major battle of theAmerican Civil War (1861-1865), Murfreesboro, Gallatin, Lebanon, and Springfield.

Nashville’s suburbs also have spread into adjacent counties in recent years, particularlyWilliamson County to the south. Nashville’s downtown is located on high, limestone bluffs overlooking the Cumberland River, with four bridges connecting the east and west sides.

Along the riverfront,historic Second Avenue is a thriving street of restaurants, dance halls, and nightclubs.

The principal shopping district extends along Church Street.

Union Station (1900), aformer railroad station near downtown, has been restored as a hotel and restaurant.

Surrounding the downtown are historic suburban neighborhoods, including RutledgeHill, Germantown, and Edgefield.

Music Row, the center of the recording industry, and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum lie 5 km (3 mi) from the city center nearthe Vanderbilt University campus. Hermitage PlantationThe Hermitage, near Nashville, Tennessee, was United States President Andrew Jackson’s plantation.

Jackson lived there with hiswife, Rachel, before he became the seventh president in 1829.

He retired there after his two terms as president.Culver Pictures A downtown architectural landmark is the Tennessee State Capitol, a neoclassical building designed by William Strickland and completed in 1855.

On the grounds of thecapitol is the tomb of James K.

Polk, a United States president from Tennessee.

Fort Nashborough, a replica of the city’s original settlement, stands on the bluffs of theCumberland River.

The Ryman Auditorium, built in the 1880s and named in honor of steamboat captain Tom Ryman, was home to the Grand Ole Opry radio show until1974.

It has since been restored for live entertainment and includes a museum devoted to the building’s history. Several historic sites are away from the downtown along the former turnpikes that radiate from the city center.

To the east of the city is the Hermitage, the former home ofAndrew Jackson, president of the United States from 1829 to 1837.

Its features include a museum, Jackson’s mansion, and former slave cabins.

Nearby is Tulip Grove(1836), the home of Andrew Donelson, Jackson’s private secretary.

In the south of the city, Travellers Rest (1799), the home of Jackson’s law partner John Overton, isanother of the many historic homes in Nashville.

To the west of downtown stands the Parthenon (1897, rebuilt in the 1920s), a replica of the original in Greece and built forthe Tennessee Centennial.

Fisk University, founded after the Civil War to educate former slaves, contains Jubilee Hall (1873).

Belle Meade (1853), known as the Queen ofTennessee plantations, was a major horse breeding farm, which in the 20th century became one of the South’s most luxurious suburbs. A Education and Culture Universities and colleges in Nashville include Vanderbilt University (1873), Tennessee State University (1912), Belmont University (1951), David Lipscomb University(1891), Trevecca Nazarene University (1901), Fisk University (1867), Meharry Medical College (1876), Free Will Baptist Bible College (1942), and American Baptist College(1924).

Several junior colleges and technical schools are located in Nashville. Many of Nashville’s museums and attractions are related to the country music industry, including several museums devoted exclusively to a single artist.

But the cityabounds in other cultural sites.

Cheekwood, a former private residence, is now the home of the Tennessee Botanical Gardens and the Museum of Art, with an extensivecollection of porcelain and American paintings.

The Cumberland Science Museum offers daily science programs, and the Tennessee State Museum features exhibits on thestate’s history.

The Parthenon houses an art gallery and a full-scale replica of the statue of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, that once stood in the Athens original.Fisk University features the Carl Van Vechten Gallery, which displays a collection of photographs by Alfred Stieglitz, and the Aaron Douglas Gallery of African Americanpainting.

Vanderbilt University includes a Fine Arts Gallery.

The Tennessee Performing Arts Center hosts in its three theaters live performances of music and drama by theNashville Symphony Orchestra, Tennessee Repertory Theater, Nashville Ballet, Nashville Opera, and many visiting performers. B Recreation Stock-car racing at the Nashville Speedway draws thousands of spectators, and college-level sports have many fans.

The Tennessee Titans professional football team playsat The Coliseum in Nashville.

The Nashville Predators, which joined the National Hockey League in 1998, play at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. A tradition in Nashville is the Iroquois Steeplechase, horse racing over a prescribed course that involves jumping over obstacles such as hedges, ditches, and walls.

The Mayevent has grown into a major festival.

In September the city hosts the Tennessee State Fair. One of Nashville's principle attractions is Opryland, a complex of entertainment and broadcasting facilities that offers live music shows, a resort and convention center, andshopping outlets.

Since 1974 it has been the home to the Grand Ole Opry radio show, a country-music production that has not missed a broadcast since 1925. Percy Park and Edwin Warner Park provide open space, trails, playing fields, and a golf course.

Percy Priest Lake and Old Hickory Lake offer fishing, boating, picnicking, andcamping. IV ECONOMY Besides being the seat of state government, Nashville is a commercial, manufacturing, education, and tourist hub and a noted center for performing and recording music,particularly country, gospel, and pop.

Financial, insurance, health, and transportation services are also important.

Manufactured products include automobile glass, printedmaterials, processed food, clothing, and footwear.

In recent years the Nashville area has become home to major automobile manufacturing plants, including the NissanMotor Company plant in Smyrna and the General Motors Saturn plant in Spring Hill. Nashville is an important transportation crossroads for the state of Tennessee, and three interstate highways converge in the city.

Interstate 40 crosses the state and linksNashville with Knoxville in the east and Memphis in the west.

Interstate 24 connects the city to Chattanooga in the south.

Interstate 65 links Tennessee with Kentucky tothe north.

Nashville International Airport serves the city.. »