Head To This Florida Destination For Italian Architecture And Art
By Amanda Finn
VACATIONS
Florida's artful, botanical, Italian-esque Coral Gables was inspired by places all over the world. Its most obvious influence is its Italian and Spanish Mediterranean heritage.
Developed in the 1920s by George Merrick, Coral Gables features Mediterranean Revival architecture, such as the Italian Renaissance villa-esque Vizcaya Museum & Gardens.
One fascinating element is the spring-fed Venetian Pool, one of the only pools in the National Register of Historic Places. Coral Gables has 11 national landmarks in total.
There are a bunch of art galleries in the heart of the city. You can see Cuban and Latin American fine art at Cernuda Arte or Latin American art at Virginia Miller Galleries Inc.
The Coral Gables Museum celebrates the city's history and visual arts. You can also visit an installation of marble sculptures by Sibylle Pasche entitled "Coral Forest."
Coral Gables' Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden has been referred to as the Best Botanical Garden in North America. There are also over 60 natural spaces in Coral Gables.