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A guide book or travel guide is "a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists". It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying detail and historical and cultural information are often included. Different kinds of guide books exist, focusing on different aspects of travel, from adventure travel to relaxation, or aimed at travelers with different incomes, or focusing on sexual orientation or types of diet.

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76-606: The Piedmont Hotel was a hotel in Downtown Atlanta , Georgia, United States. Construction on the building, which was designed by architect Willis F. Denny , began in 1901, and the building was opened to the public in January 1903. Considered one of the finest hotels in the city at the time, numerous famous guests stayed at the hotel while visiting Atlanta, including three presidents of the United States . Unlike other Atlanta hotels,

152-511: A Byron for sentiment, and finds out by them what he is to know and feel by every step." After Karl Baedeker died, his son, also named Karl, inherited the Baedeker travel guide business; however, he was killed in action during World War I. British nationalism and anti-German sentiment resulted in some British people labeling Baedeker guides "instrumental to the German war effort", and their popularity in

228-855: A nickelodeon called the Peachtree Theatorium, opened in the hotel's lobby. The following year, a guide book called the Piedmont the largest hotel in the city. In its early years, the hotel was host to numerous notable guests. Until the Georgian Terrace was completed in 1912, the Piedmont was the hotel of choice for visiting opera stars. During one week in March 1911, the hotel hosted former United States President Theodore Roosevelt , current President William Howard Taft , and future president and then- Governor of New Jersey Woodrow Wilson , who were in Atlanta for

304-592: A 1.25-million-square-foot (116,000 m ) mixed-used office building, contains the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and offices for several other federal agencies, including the Department of Energy's regional office. Further north in the Fairlie-Poplar district of Downtown is the U.S. Court of Appeals . This court takes federal cases from the states of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. It

380-507: A 72,000-square-foot (6,700 m ) full service athletic facility. Transit access is provided MARTA's Peachtree Center station that is directly connected to it. Centennial Yards is a $ 5 billion mixed-use development that is expected to be completed in 2026. The transformative 50-acre project will bring more restaurants, entertainment, housing, hotel rooms, and retail stores to downtown. The Consulate-General of Argentina , The Consulate-General of Germany , Consulate of Belgium , and

456-615: A Hungarian-born author of travel articles , who had emigrated to the United States before the war, wrote guidebooks which introduced English-reading audiences to continental Europe. Arthur Frommer , an American soldier stationed in Europe during the Korean War , used his experience traveling around the Continent as the basis for Europe on $ 5 a Day (1957), which introduced readers to options for budget travel in Europe. Both authors' guidebooks became

532-474: A budget. She therefore included for the first time a wealth of advice on luggage, obtaining passports, the precise cost of food and accommodation in each city and even advice on the care of invalid family members. She also devised a system of exclamation mark ratings [!!!], a forerunner of today's star ratings . Her books, published by John Murray , served as a template for later guides. In the United States ,

608-400: A collective 135 floors-worth of office space in the city. The hotel closed without fanfare at noon on May 3, 1965. The following day, The Atlanta Constitution published an editorial about the hotel, commending it for its high quality and saying in part about its demolition, "It is with regret that we see an old friend, the Piedmont, depart". The building was demolished that year, and by 1968,

684-467: A dedicated hotel-convention district that lay at the heart of the Downtown economy, even as the remainder of Downtown Atlanta deteriorated markedly. The closure of Underground Atlanta in 1979 due to an increase in crime contributed to perceptions that Downtown was dangerous, and the 1980s saw a significant decline in population. By 1990, Five Points was a "vacant shell of its former self," while Downtown as

760-486: A detailed itinerary. In the medieval Arab world , guide books for travelers in search of artifacts and treasures were written by Arabic treasure hunters, magicians, and alchemists . This was particularly the case in Arab Egypt , where treasure hunters were eager to find valuable ancient Egyptian antiquities. Some of the books claimed to be imbued with magic that could dispel the magical barriers believed to be protecting

836-606: A district for entertainment and shopping. It contains retail stores, restaurants that serve a variety of different foods, and several nightclubs in Kenny's Alley. The Mall at Peachtree Center , located on Peachtree Street, has 60 specialty shops, including six full-scale restaurants, as well as a regular food court, a conference center in the South Tower. It also includes the Peachtree Center Athletic Club, which contains

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912-694: A fireworks display for the Independence Day holiday. Hurt Park with its lighted fountain was an attraction in the 1940s and 1950s, and is a reminder of a bygone time. Just north of Centennial Olympic Park is the Georgia Aquarium , the world's third largest aquarium, after Marine Life Park in Singapore built in 2012 and the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in China built in 2010. The Georgia Aquarium remains

988-497: A handbook for travellers by Professor Johannes August Klein entitled Rheinreise von Mainz bis Cöln; ein Handbuch für Schnellreisende ( A Rhine Journey from Mainz to Cologne ; A Handbook for Travellers on the Move ). He published this book with little changes for the next ten years, which provided the seeds for Baedeker's new approach to travel guides. After Klein died, he decided to publish

1064-539: A million people attend conventions at the Georgia World Congress Center annually, and as many 125,000 people attend a single event. Located near the MARTA Five Points Station, Underground Atlanta is Downtown's shopping and entertainment district. During the 1920s, streets in the area were raised above the ground (and the railroad tracks) for a better flow of traffic. Under these viaducts is

1140-539: A much smaller downtown area measuring just one and two tenths square miles. This area is roughly bound by North Avenue to the north, Piedmont Avenue and the Downtown Connector to the east, Martin Luther King Jr Drive, Courtland Street, and Edgewood Avenue to the south, and the railroad tracks to the west. This area only includes the core central business district neighborhoods of Fairlie-Poplar, Five Points,

1216-586: A new edition in 1839, to which he added many of his own ideas on what he thought a travel guide should offer the traveller. Baedeker's ultimate aim was to free the traveller from having to look for information anywhere outside the travel guide; whether about routes, transport, accommodation, restaurants, tipping, sights, walks or prices. Baedeker emulated the style of John Murray's guidebooks, but included unprecedented detailed information. In 1846, Baedeker introduced his star ratings for sights, attractions and lodgings, following Mrs. Starke's and Murray's. This edition

1292-496: A new office building on the site. The hotel was demolished that year and in 1968, the Equitable Building was completed. During the latter half of the 19th century, the land in downtown Atlanta that the hotel would be built on was primarily residential. In the 1850s, William Ezzard , who would later serve multiple terms as mayor of Atlanta , had a two-story brick house built on that city block and lived there until selling

1368-952: A strong presence in Downtown. The U.S. Census Bureau has its Atlanta Regional Office in the Centennial Tower and the Atlanta Regional Census Center in Suite 1000 in the Marquis Two Tower in the Peachtree Center . The National Transportation Safety Board operates the Atlanta Aviation Field Office in the Atlanta Federal Center in Downtown Atlanta. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Building

1444-573: A target for the Union Army . In 1864, General William T. Sherman burned Atlanta to the ground during his March to the Sea , making Atlanta the only major American city to be destroyed by war. Atlanta's first resurgence began during Reconstruction . In 1868, Georgia's state capital was moved to the city from Milledgeville . By the 1920s, a downtown business sector ringed by residential districts had emerged. Professional sports came to Atlanta in 1965 with

1520-595: A transformation that includes the construction of new condos and lofts, renovation of historic buildings, and arrival of new residents and businesses. Downtown is bound by North Avenue to the north, Boulevard to the east, Interstate 20 to the south, and Northside Drive to the west. This definition includes central areas like Five Points , the Hotel District , and Fairlie-Poplar , and outer neighborhoods such as SoNo and Castleberry Hill . The Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (ADID) organization, though, defines

1596-547: A university-led transformation of Downtown that sought to make Georgia State "a part of the city, not apart from the city." Dubbed the Main Street Master Plan, Patton's vision has been executed through billions of dollars of urban construction, boosting Downtown's economy and population. On March 14, 2008, at approximately 9:40 pm Eastern Daylight Time , an EF2 tornado hit Downtown with winds up to 135 miles per hour (217 km/h). It caused damage to Philips Arena,

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1672-545: A whole was largely an "archepelagic assemblage of fortified enclaves inhabited in the daylight hours by government office workers, conventioners, and college students, and in the night by a substantial population of homeless persons." The 1996 Olympic Games , along with the transformation of Georgia State University from a commuter school to a traditional college, initiated a resurgence of Downtown that continues today. They resulted in Centennial Olympic Park , which

1748-732: Is a music concert hall built in 1910 for the Tabernacle Baptist Church. In 1996 it was converted into a House of Blues Club for the Olympics. It was renamed "The Tabernacle" in 1998. The concert hall is four stories and can seat 2600. AmericasMart is a wholesale trade center consisting of four buildings totaling seven million square feet. The Mart hosts several trade shows every year including Market Wednesday, Atlanta Apparel, Atlanta Spring Immediate Delivery, and The Atlanta International Gift and Home Furnishings Market. Some permanent showrooms are open daily, though many are open only part of

1824-487: Is a reinvigorated Downtown, especially in the areas around Woodruff Park and Sweet Auburn . Downtown Atlanta is in Atlanta Public Schools (APS). Zoned schools are: Centennial Place Academy ( K-8 school ), and Midtown High School (formerly Henry W. Grady High School). Downtown is a transportation hub for the entire region. The Downtown Connector runs north and south through the district. The Connector

1900-608: Is located South Downtown . Its gold dome is visible from the Downtown Connector . The Fulton County Government Center, the seat of the Fulton County Government, is located on Pryor Street. The Fulton County Courthouse is located directly across the street from the Fulton County Government Center. A few blocks away from the U.S. Court of Appeals is the State Bar of Georgia building, the former location of

1976-614: Is officially named the Elbert P. Tuttle U.S. Court of Appeals building, named after a former Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (the predecessor court to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit). Downtown is also marked by its state, county, and city government facilities. The Georgia State Capitol , the seat of the government for the State of Georgia,

2052-864: Is the primary freeway artery for the city. Downtown is also served by Interstate 20, which creates the southern border of Downtown. Downtown also has many surface streets that serve as alternatives to the Downtown Connector. MARTA 's east–west and north–south subway lines converge in the middle of Downtown at the Five Points station . The North-South Line has four additional stops at Garnett (in South Downtown ), Peachtree Center , and Civic Center (in SoNo ). The east–west line has two additional stops at Dome/GWCC/Philips Arena/CNN Center and Georgia State . Guide book Travel guides or guide books can also take

2128-610: The Atlanta chief of police to dispatch officers to keep order. That afternoon, The Atlanta Journal published a front page story on the opening, calling the hotel "the handsomest and most complete in the South ". While other hotels in the city, such as the Kimball House , had a reputation as institutions that maintained Southern customs, such as in the Southern cuisine offered in their eateries,

2204-501: The Bank of America Plaza building, is situated between Midtown Atlanta and Downtown. Rising at 1,023 feet (312 m), Bank of America Plaza is also the tallest building in any of the U.S. state capitals, and one of the tallest buildings in the United States outside of New York City and Chicago . Downtown is the heart and the largest of the three business districts of the city. This area contains striking architecture dating as far back as

2280-754: The Celebration Bowl , and the Peach Bowl . In its vicinity is State Farm Arena , the home of the Atlanta Hawks , the city's NBA team. It is located directly across Centennial Olympic Park Drive from the CNN Center. Just south of Interstate 20 are the Georgia State University baseball, basketball, and football stadiums—the latter built from the legacy of the defunct Centennial Olympic Stadium and Turner Field . The Tabernacle , located on Luckie Street,

2356-581: The Consulate-General of South Korea are located in Peachtree Center . The Consulate-General of the United Kingdom is located in the Georgia-Pacific Tower . Woodruff Park , named after Robert W. Woodruff , is a 6-acre (24,000 m ) park in Downtown located a block away from Five Points . The park is the location of the iconic Phoenix Memorial , which memorializes Atlanta's rise from

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2432-419: The Equitable Building , a 34-floor skyscraper that had cost $ 20 million to erect, was completed. The hotel occupied a city block that was bounded by Peachtree Street, Luckie Street, Forsyth Street, and Williams Street. The building had a frontage of 182.4 feet (55.6 m) on Luckie Street, 128.35 feet (39.12 m) on Peachtree Street, 150.5 feet (45.9 m) on Forsyth Street, and 33.5 feet (10.2 m) at

2508-596: The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta before it moved to its Midtown location in 2001. Downtown is home to most of the city's major sporting venues. Mercedes-Benz Stadium is home to the Atlanta Falcons , the city's NFL team, and Atlanta United FC , the city's MLS team. Mercedes-Benz Stadium also hosts major college football events, including the annual Aflac Kickoff Game , the SEC Championship Game ,

2584-514: The Georgia Railroad , suggested that Marthasville's name be changed. The first suggestion was "Atlantica-Pacifica", which was shortened to "Atlanta". In 1847, Atlanta was incorporated, with the town limits extending in a one-mile (1.6 km) radius from the mile marker at the railroad depot. By the outbreak of the Civil War, Atlanta was a major railroad hub and manufacturing center, making it

2660-633: The that year's Senate elections . On March 2, 1965, the stockholders of the Piedmont Hotel Company announced that they had accepted a $ 3.5 million offer from the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States to purchase the property, where they intended to construct a new office building. This was part of a larger trend of insurance companies building offices in Atlanta, as between 1960 and 1965, several major insurance firms had either constructed or had plans to construct

2736-515: The 'daytrip essay' Record of Stone Bell Mountain by the noted poet and statesman Su Shi (1037–1101) presented a philosophical and moral argument as its central purpose. In the West, the guidebook developed from the published personal experiences of aristocrats who traveled through Europe on the Grand Tour . As the appreciation of art, architecture and antiquity became ever-more essential ingredients of

2812-449: The 1970s resulted in significant development in Downtown, most notably in Peachtree Center and the Hotel District . Economic development in these areas shifted the commercial center of the city to an area along Peachtree Street that was north of Five Points , however, despite the construction of the MARTA central station there in 1975. By the mid-1980s, Peachtree Center had become the core of

2888-538: The 19th century. Some of the most famous and/or tallest buildings in Downtown include: Downtown is divided into nine subdistricts: Downtown contains over 26 million square feet (2,400,000 m ) of office space; combined with Midtown as the central business district they make up over 48 million sq ft, more than the CBDs of Dallas , and Miami . Downtown's economy is also driven by its government facilities, venues, and retail options. The Federal government maintains

2964-518: The 2nd century A.D. This most famous work is a guide to the interesting places, works of architecture, sculpture, and curious customs of Ancient Greece , and is still useful to Classicists today. With the advent of Christianity, the guide for the European religious pilgrim became a useful guidebook. An early account is that of the pilgrim Egeria , who visited the Holy Land in the 4th century CE and left

3040-623: The Dutch publisher Officina Elzeviriana (House of Elzevir) published a bestselling pocketbook series, the Respublicae Elzevirianae (Elzevirian Republics), which has been described as the "ancestor of the modern travel guide". Each volume gave information (geography, population, economy, history) on a country in Europe, Africa, the Near East or the Far East. An important transitional figure from

3116-601: The Georgia Dome, Centennial Olympic Park, the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel , the CNN Center, and the Georgia World Congress Center . It was the first time a tornado touched ground in Downtown since weather record keeping began in the 1880s. While there were dozens of injuries, there was only one fatality. Downtown contains some of the tallest buildings in Atlanta. The tallest building in Atlanta,

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3192-504: The Hotel District, Centennial Hill, and South Downtown . The history of downtown began in 1826 with Wilson Lumpkin and Hamilton Fulton surveying a possible canal route between Chattanooga, Tennessee , and Milledgeville , Georgia's capital at the time. In 1833, Lumpkin, who had become governor, requested that the state legislature charter three railroad lines. By 1836, the state-financed Western and Atlantic Railroad , linking

3268-547: The Piedmont instead sought to emulate the style of the hotels in the northeastern United States. One way in which the Piedmont differed from other local hotels was that their staff of bellhops and chambermaids consisted entirely of white Americans , unlike in other hotels which often employed African Americans in those positions. According to historian Franklin Garrett , the hotel was often referred to by locals as "our New York City hotel". In 1906, Atlanta's first storefront theater,

3344-421: The Piedmont sought to emulate the style of hotels in the northeastern United States and was commonly referred to by locals as "our New York City hotel". In 1929, the building went through an extensive renovation overseen by the architectural firm of Pringle & Smith . In 1965, the owners of the hotel agreed to sell the property to the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States , who planned to build

3420-589: The Southern Commercial Congress. In the 1920s, Margaret Mitchell interviewed inventor Hudson Maxim at his room at the Piedmont for a story published by The Atlanta Journal . Other notable individuals who stayed at the hotel include United States Vice President Thomas R. Marshall , politician William Jennings Bryan , United States Army General Leonard Wood , business magnate J. Ogden Armour , racing driver Barney Oldfield , and writer Thomas Dixon Jr. In 1921, representatives from 14 universities in

3496-580: The United Kingdom dropped considerably. As a result, the two editors of Baedeker's English-language titles left the company and acquired the rights to Murray's Handbooks . The resulting guide books, called the Blue Guides to distinguish them from the red-covered Baedekers, constituted one of the major guide book series for much of the 20th century and are still published today. Soon after World War II , two new names emerged which combined European and American perspectives on international travel. Eugene Fodor ,

3572-497: The area, particularly in the area clustered around Centennial Olympic Park. In June 2008, Atlanta was selected for the future home of the National Health Museum. It will be near Centennial Olympic Park where it is estimated to attract between 1.1 and 1.4 million visitors per year. Georgia State University , a four-year public research institution, has been a major force in Downtown's resurgence. Downtown has benefited from

3648-431: The artifacts. Travel literature became popular during the Song dynasty (960–1279) of medieval China . The genre was called 'travel record literature' (youji wenxue), and was often written in narrative , prose , essay and diary style. Travel literature authors such as Fan Chengda (1126–1193) and Xu Xiake (1587–1641) incorporated a wealth of geographical and topographical information into their writing, while

3724-450: The ashes of the Civil War. Built as a legacy of the 1996 Olympic Games , Centennial Olympic Park , located on 21-acre (85,000 m ) area of Downtown, is the largest downtown park in the United States developed in the last 25 years. A famous part of the park is the Fountain of Rings, the world's largest interactive fountain utilizing the Olympic symbol of five interconnecting rings. The park hosts many events, such as music concerts and

3800-411: The books by Baedeker and Murray helped sharpen and formalize the complementary genre of the personal travelogue , which was freed from the burden of serving as a guide book. The Baedeker and Murray guide books were hugely popular and were standard resources for travelers well into the 20th century. As William Wetmore Story said in the 1860s, "Every Englishman abroad carries a Murray for information, and

3876-471: The concept of "sights" which he rated in terms of their significance using stars for Starke's exclamation points. According to scholar James Buzard, the Murray style "exemplified the exhaustive rational planning that was as much an ideal of the emerging tourist industry as it was of British commercial and industrial organization generally." In Germany, Karl Baedeker acquired the publishing house of Franz Friedrich Röhling in Koblenz, which in 1828 had published

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3952-433: The construction of Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium and the relocation of the Braves from Milwaukee . The National Football League awarded the city the Falcons expansion team in 1966. The Hawks arrived in 1968, even though Omni Coliseum , the city's basketball arena, did not open until 1972. Two of the teams continue to play their home games downtown at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Philips Arena . Business growth in

4028-440: The early 20th century, this area had grown congested and new developments began to spread northwards along Peachtree Street . Hotel construction followed this trend, as new hotels built in the early 1900s such as the Georgian Terrace Hotel and the Biltmore Hotel were located further from the city's Union Station than hotels that had been built in the 1800s. Construction on the Piedmont Hotel commenced in mid-1901. The building

4104-799: The emergence of digital technology, many publishers turned to electronic distribution, either in addition to or instead of print publication. This can take the form of downloadable documents for reading on a portable computer or hand held device such a PDA or iPod , or online information accessible via a web site. This enabled guidebook publishers to keep their information more current. Traditional guide book incumbents Lonely Planet , Frommers , Rough Guides , and In Your Pocket City Guides , and newcomers such as Schmap or Ulysses Travel Guides are now offering travel guides for download . New online and interactive guides such as Tripadvisor , Wikivoyage , and Travellerspoint enable individual travelers to share their own experiences and contribute information to

4180-504: The first published guidebook was Gideon Minor Davison's The Fashionable Tour , published in 1822, and Theodore Dwight's The Northern Traveller and Henry Gilpin's The Northern Tour , both from 1825. The modern guidebook emerged in the 1830s, with the burgeoning market for long distance tourism. The publisher John Murray began printing the Murray's Handbooks for Travellers in London from 1836. The series covered tourist destinations in Europe, Asia and northern Africa, and he introduced

4256-531: The flurry of GSU-related construction and land acquisitions as the institution undergoes its transformation from a commuter school to a traditional university. In the early 2000s, under then-president Carl Patton, the university undertook the creation of a master plan that would make GSU "a part of the city, not apart from the city." The resulting $ 1 billion master plan has led to 14 new or renovated university buildings, including academic structures, student dormitories, dining halls, and sporting facilities. The result

4332-408: The form of travel websites . A forerunner of the guidebook was the periplus , an itinerary from landmark to landmark of the ports along a coast. A periplus such as the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea was a manuscript document that listed, in order, the ports and coastal landmarks, with approximate intervening distances, that the captain of a vessel could expect to find along a shore. This work

4408-477: The foundations for extensive series, eventually covering destinations around the world. Since then, Let's Go , Lonely Planet , Insight Guides , Rough Guides , Eyewitness Travel Guides and many other travel guide series have been published. Specialist climbing guidebooks for mountains have a long history owing to the special needs of mountaineering , rock climbing , hill walking , and scrambling . The guides by W A Poucher for example, are widely used for

4484-400: The hill regions of Britain . There are many more special guides to the numerous climbing grounds in Britain published by the Climbers Club , for example. Travel guides are made for diving destinations and specific dive sites . These have been published as magazine articles, stand-alone books and websites, often publicising the dive sites in the vicinity of specific service providers. With

4560-417: The idiosyncratic style of the Grand Tour travelogues to the more informative and impersonal guidebook was Mariana Starke . Her 1824 guide to travel in France and Italy served as an essential companion for British travelers to the Continent in the early 19th century. She recognized that with the growing numbers of Britons traveling abroad after 1815 the majority of her readers would now be in family groups and on

4636-432: The intersection of Broad, Luckie, and Peachtree streets. The building stood 11 stories tall. On the first floor was the main lobby of the building, which had marble columns and was decorated with large frescoes . Connected to the lobby was the hotel's offices, parlor rooms, and several shops. Additionally, a dining room was affixed to the lobby, with a space for the hotel's orchestra nearby. The hotel rooms were located on

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4712-426: The largest aquarium in the United States and in the Western Hemisphere, with more than 8 million US gallons (30,000 m ) of fresh and marine water. It is listed as one of the "1,000 Places to See Before You Die". The World of Coca-Cola , situated near the Georgia Aquarium at Pemberton Place , is a permanent exhibition to the history of Coca-Cola . Downtown is in the process of bringing new attractions to

4788-451: The middle of Georgia to the other states north and west, was granted a charter by the legislature, which was signed into law by Lumpkin. As a result, the town named Terminus was founded in 1837, named for the end of the railroad line. Terminus received a name change in 1842 when the town's 30 inhabitants voted to change the town's name to Marthasville, in honor of Governor Lumpkin's daughter. By 1845, John Edgar Thomson , chief engineer of

4864-495: The noble upbringing so they predominated in the guidebooks, particularly those devoted to the Italian peninsula. Richard Lassels (1603–1668) wrote a series of manuscript guides which were eventually published posthumously in Paris and London (1670) as The Voyage of Italy . Grand Tour guidebooks poured off the presses throughout the eighteenth century, those such as Patrick Brydone 's A Tour Through Sicily and Malta being read by many who never left England. Between 1626 and 1649,

4940-401: The others), it is the location of many corporate and regional headquarters; city , county , state , and federal government facilities; Georgia State University ; sporting venues; and most of Atlanta's tourist attractions. It measures approximately four square miles, and had 26,850 residents as of 2017. Similar to other central business districts in the United States, it has recently undergone

5016-422: The project, almost the entire building except for the structural frame was stripped and rebuilt. As a result of the renovation, much of the building's ground floor frontage was converted to commercial use, with several shops added to the building's lobby. The total cost for the renovation was $ 750,000. In 1932, Georgia politician Charles R. Crisp based his headquarters at the hotel during his unsuccessful bid in

5092-497: The property in 1880. On August 3, 1901, the Piedmont Hotel Company spent $ 125,000 in purchasing the city block from the multiple owners who owned the individual land lots , which included politician M. Hoke Smith . At this time, the area was still residential, though there were two other hotels that had been built in the area: the Hotel Aragon in 1892 and the Majestic Hotel in 1898. Atlanta's main center for development had been located south of this area, at Five Points , although by

5168-461: The second floor and above and could be reached from the lobby by either stairs or an elevator. Private dining rooms and the hotel's kitchen were also located on the second floor. [REDACTED] Media related to Piedmont Hotel at Wikimedia Commons Downtown Atlanta Downtown Atlanta is the central business district of Atlanta , Georgia , United States. The largest of the city's three commercial districts ( Midtown and Buckhead being

5244-503: The southern United States met at the hotel to establish the Southern Conference . Going into that decade, the property had a tax assessment of $ 977,500, and it boasted 400 rooms, of which 250 had private baths. However, by the middle of the decade, the Piedmont saw a decline in popularity, and between 1928 and 1929, the hotel was closed for a massive renovation . This was carried out by the Atlanta-based architectural firm of Pringle & Smith and commenced on January 1, 1929. As part of

5320-411: The time or during trade shows. Clustered around the Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the CNN Center, the Georgia World Congress Center is a state-owned convention center. Opened in 1976, it was the first state owned and operated major convention center in the United States. As the fourth largest convention center in the United States and with 1.4 million square feet (130,000 m ) of space, more than

5396-545: Was also his first "experimental" red guide. He also decided to call his travel guides "handbooks", following the example of John Murray III . Baedeker's early guides had tan covers, but from 1856 onwards, Murray's red bindings and gilt lettering became the familiar hallmark of all Baedeker guides as well, and the content became famous for its clarity, detail and accuracy. Baedeker and Murray produced impersonal, objective guides; works prior to this combined factual information and personal sentimental reflection. The availability of

5472-596: Was built and "designed and constructed to accommodate the rapidly expanding volume of the Postal Service , which was then oriented around a single, central processing facility." The Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center is the ninth largest federal building in the United States and the largest in the southeast. It "houses 5,000 employees for dozens of federal agencies and combines four distinct structural elements in central downtown, equaling 2 million square feet (190,000 m )." The Richard B. Russell Federal Building ,

5548-672: Was built as a physical memorial to the games in the former industrial area west of Five Points. In the following decade, Centennial Olympic Park spurred the creation of a Downtown tourist district anchored by the World of Coca-Cola , the Georgia Aquarium , the CNN Center , the Center for Civil and Human Rights , and the College Football Hall of Fame . Following the 1996 games, Georgia State University president Carl Patton, an urban planner, initiated

5624-401: Was designed by Willis F. Denny , an Atlanta-based architect who designed several other notable buildings in the city, such as St. Mark United Methodist Church and Rhodes Hall . Construction on the hotel lasted through 1902, and it opened to the public at noon on January 15, 1903. The opening was a big event for the city, as thousands of people gathered to see the hotel's interior and prompting

5700-561: Was possibly written in the middle of the 1st century CE. It served the same purpose as the later Roman itinerarium of road stops. The periegesis , or "progress around" was an established literary genre during the Hellenistic age. A lost work by Agaclytus describing Olympia ( περὶ Ὀλυμπίας ) is referred to by the Suda and Photius . Dionysius Periegetes (literally, Dionysius the Traveller)

5776-602: Was the author of a description of the habitable world in Greek hexameter verse written in a terse and elegant style, intended for the klismos traveller rather than the actual tourist on the ground; he is believed to have worked in Alexandria and to have flourished around the time of Hadrian . An early "remarkably well-informed and interesting guidebook" was the Hellados Periegesis ( Descriptions of Greece ) of Pausanias of

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