Detroit is the largest city in the US state of Michigan. Its history began in 1701, when Frenchmen led by Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac established Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit as a trading post on the site of today’s downtown. Later in the century, the place first became British and then American, before Detroit became the capital of Michigan Territory in 1805. At this time, there were less than 750 inhabitants in the town, but that number increased continuously throughout the 19th century.

In 1837, Michigan became a state of the United States, and Detroit remained the state capital until 1848, when the seat of government was moved to Lansing. In the latter half of the 19th century, the city boomed through transport and industrialization, and from 1850 to 1900 the population rose from 21,000 to 285,000. It was a time when wide boulevards were laid out and built in beautiful architecture with ever larger buildings.

In the first decades of the 20th century, Detroit became the USA’s fourth largest city due to a significant automobile industry, which gave Detroit the nicknames Motor City and Motown. From mid-century, many moved from the city to its suburbs, and automobile production closed or curtailed, contributing to major recessions for Detroit. The downturn ended with the city’s bankruptcy in 2013, and it also became the start of many new initiatives that have revitalized Detroit.

Today, Detroit is a city with many sights and attractions. The city’s downtown and center are close to the banks of the Detroit River, which forms the border with Canada. And you can advantageously start a walk in town at Philip A. Hart Plaza, which is a recreational urban space along the river. The place was where Antoine de La Mothe arrived in 1701, when he founded what became today’s metropolis. Among other things, you can see a statue of de La Mothe and the fountain designed by Isamu Noguchi and Walter Budd in 1978.

From Philip A. Hart Plaza you can enjoy the view across the water to the town of Windsor in Canada. You can take a walk along the Detroit Riverwalk too, which is located along the riverbank, and here you will find the riverboat Detroit Princess. You can also see Detroit’s high-rises, with the Renaissance Center being one of the most famous. The Renaissance Center is a group of buildings with seven skyscrapers, the top of which reaches 230 meters in the central tower, which was completed in 1977. The houses were built by General Motors as the company’s headquarters.

If you continue to Detroit’s downtown, you can see architecture from the 19th century to the present day. Campus Martius Park is centrally located in the district, and it is a square that was supposed to form the center of the city’s reconstruction after a fire that ravaged the city in 1805. In the square you can see the Michigan Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, which is a memorial to the American civil war. From the square there is a view of some of the city’s high-rise buildings such as the Guardian Building and the Penobscot Building, which were built in Art Deco 1927-1928 as the tallest building in the USA outside of New York and Chicago.

From Campus Martius Park, you can follow the northwest axis of Augustus Woodward’s city plan for the rebuilding of Detroit. You come to the Grand Circus, which forms the northern edge of downtown. The Grand Circus was supposed to be a circle, but it became only a semi-circle due to rising land prices. At the Grand Circus is the Detroit Opera House, and if you walk down Broadway Street, you come to some houses that were built between 1896 and 1926.

From downtown’s many tall buildings and large squares, you will notice an interesting contrast if you walk to the Greektown neighborhood, where Monroe Street is full of old brick buildings, restaurants and entertainment. You can also see St. Mary Roman Catholic Church in Monroe Street. It is a Catholic church that was built in 1884-1885 for the then German congregation, which developed the area before a Greek settlement in the 20th century.

You can also explore the exhibitions at Detroit’s museums. At the Detroit Historical Museum, you can learn about the history of the city, while at The Henry Ford area you can visit, for example, the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation about American technology and transport history. Among the museum’s highlights is the limousine in which John F. Kennedy drove on the fateful trip through Dallas in 1963.

The Henry Ford also consists of Greenfield Village with countless activities and highlights from the history of the United States such as agriculture, workshops, steam trains and the iconic Ford T. In the area you can also join the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, where you get a tour of the Ford factory in Dearborn. If you want to look at more car history, the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant is the place where the Ford T was created, and at the Automotive Hall of Fame there are several cars with a focus on those that have influenced the development of the car over time.

If you are interested in art, a visit to the Detroit Institute of Arts is a must. It is a large art museum with works by, among others, Diego Rivera, Rembrandt, Renoir and Van Gogh. Nearby, you can see more art at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. If music is your thing, then the Motown Museum is the place to be. The Motown Museum tells the story of the many stars who started their careers in Detroit.