Minneapolis is the largest city in the US state of Minnesota, and it is known together with the neighboring city as the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. In 1819, the US Army established Fort Snelling in the area, and from the middle of the 1800s, settlers from not least Scandinavia and Germany came here, and the Minnesota Territorial Legislature approved the establishment of Minneapolis in 1856.

In 1867, Minneapolis formally became a city, and five years later the city of Saint Anthony on the east side of the Mississippi was merged with Minneapolis. The city’s growth was not least due to large mills that utilized the St Anthony Falls for energy production, and which served the agriculture and grain producers of western Minnesota and North Dakota.

Grain and flour were shipped to e.g. St. Louis and New Orleans, and to secure the important shipping, Saint Paul was used as Minneapolis’ port city. Growth was high, and railroads and factories dominated large parts of the city, which throughout the 1950s and 1960s were redeveloped to such an extent that approximately 40% of downtown was demolished and redeveloped.

Today you can take some nice walks in downtown Minneapolis, where you can start at Government Plaza. Here is the city’s large town hall, which was built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style in the years 1888-1909 with inspiration from the Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh. The City Hall Tower, at 105 meters in height, was the tallest building in Minneapolis until the Fosnay Tower was completed in 1929 with architectural inspiration from the Washington Monument in the US capital. In Foshay Tower today there is an observation deck at the top with a beautiful view of the city.

Back at Government Plaza, you can notice the CenturyLink Building, which opened in Art Deco style in 1932 as the Northwestern Bell Telephone Building. In the city you can also see various well-known cultural institutions such as the various theaters on Hennepin Avenue like The Orpheum Theatre, the Pantages Theatre, the State Theater and the Sam S. Shubert Theater, which today serves as the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts.

The largest recreational area in Minneapolis is the Mississippi River and the many parks and trails that line the banks of the great waterway. At the northeast area of ​​downtown is St Anthony Falls, the only major natural waterfall on the Mississippi. During the 19th century, dams and mills were built, and today you can see the waterfall and the locks that allow passage on the river.

You can see it all from the waterfront downtown and from the Stone Arch Bridge, a former railroad bridge from 1883. You can choose to walk southwest of downtown as well, where Loring Park is located. Loring Park was established in 1883 as Minneapolis’ Central Park, and in it you can see The Berger Fountain from 1971 here. Continue west to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, which is a beautifully landscaped park with several sculptures such as Spoonbridge and Cherry and Hahn/Cock.

There are several things to see and experience around Loring Park. North of the park is the Basilica of Saint Mary, an impressive basilica from 1907-1914. The church was designed by Emmanuel Louis Masqueray, who at the time had designed the nearby Cathedral of Saint Paul. The basilica is a magnificent building with a large and beautiful interior.

South of the park is St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, which was built in 1910, and west of it you can visit the art museum Walker Art Center. The museum was founded in 1879 as a gallery in Thomas Barlow Walker’s home, while the current museum is housed in specially designed buildings from 1971 and 2005. At the art museum you can enjoy a distinguished collection of modern and contemporary art.

You can see works by e.g. Edward Hopper, Franz Marc and Andy Warhol. If you want to see more art, a visit to the Minneapolis Institute of Art is an obvious choice. It is one of America’s largest art museums, and its collections span five thousand years of history from around the world. You can e.g. see works by El Greco, Joan Miró, van Gogh and Paul Gauguin.

When you are in the twin cities of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, you can of course also take the short trip to Saint Paul, which has been the capital of Minnesota since 1849. There are several attractions in the city where you can take a walk from Rice Park and Landmark Plaza. Here you can see the Landmark Center, which was opened in the Richardsonian Romanesque style in 1902 as a post office, courthouse and customs house for Minnesota.

Close by is Mississippi and the Science Museum of Minnesota, one of the city’s many museums. Others include e.g. Goldstein Museum of Design, the Minnesota Museum of American Art and the Minnesota History Center, housed in an architecturally intriguing building from 1992. Northwest of downtown Saint Paul is the Minnesota State Capitol, designed by architect Cass Gilbert and completed in 1905. There are many beautiful details in the decoration of the Capitol, such as in the rotunda and in the dome of the building. You can also see the sculpture group The Progress of the State above the southern main entrance.