General Information

Los Angeles, situated on the Pacific Ocean coast, surrounded by the San Bernardino mountain range, is the largest city in California. Los Angeles, the States’ second most populated city after New York, is a major industrial and commercial centre. The city’s worldwide fame is linked to the film-making and television industry, however Los Angeles, with its mild winters and warm summers is also a popular holiday destination. Los Angeles was founded in 1781 by Spanish Francescan monks and given the name Nuestra Senora Reina de Los Angeles. The city belonged to Mexico until 1848, when, together with California, it became part of the USA.

Los Angeles, 80 km long and with a surface area of 1200 sqkm is too large to rotate around one city centre. The city’s construction has never followed a rational building plan and the result is a de-centralised city with a number of individual built-up areas linked by a dense network of roads (Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Hollywood, Inglewood, Long Beach, Pasadena). Los Angeles is a notable cultural centre and is home to numerous univesities including the California State University(founded 1947); the Loyola Marymount University (1911) and the University of California-Los Angeles UCLA (1919), worth a visit if you want to have an idea of how an American university campus look like.

The city does not possess too many significant or important monuments or buildings, however its title as the capital of the film and music industry makes it a great attraction. A guided tour of Los Angeles usually starts in the Hollywood district, where a tour of Universal Studios is obligatory. The studios house the Universal Amphitheater, where international rock groups and pop stars perform. Hollywood Boulevard, a large open-air amphitheatre in Highland Avenue is home to the Los Angeles Philarmonic Orchestra. The pavement, outside Mann’s Chinese Theatre, is famous for its foot and handprints of show-business stars. The 40km long Sunset Boulevard, immortalised in the 1950 film of the same name, best shows the vast economic and architectural differences of the city. The road stretches from the rich and famous Bel Air and Beverly Hills to Hollywood and Downtown, the oldest part of the city.

Travelling westwards the visitor arrives at Beverly Hills, home of Rodeo Drive and its luxurious shops. The most ostentatious houses are located along Benedict, Colwater Canyon and Laurel Canyon. The original nucleus of ”Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles del Rio de Porciuncula” is the Downtown administration center, around Olivera Street and near to the City Hall. Olivera Street is the oldest street in the city; it resembles an old Mexican market square and has some buildings that date back to the 18th Century .The Union Passenger Station is located along Alameda Street. This 1939 railway station, a milestone in Los Angeles architecture, connects the city to San Francisco and San Diego.

El Pueblo de Los Angeles is a historic park which preserves the atmosphere of an old Spanish village. The park houses the Plaza Church (1822) and the Bradbury Building (304 South Broadway); this national monument, a masterpiece of marble, steel and precious wood, has an open cage lift and was featured in the Ridley Scott film, Blade Runner.

From Malibu to Newport, the Los Angeles’ coast is lined with beaches: Venice, Malibu and the enormous Santa Monica with its famous Pier which houses fairground attractions from the last century. A cycle route runs along the coast from Pacific Palisades until Marina de Rey.

Los Angeles has numerous beautiful parks including: Griffith Park, which houses the city zoo and the Gene Autry Heritage Musuem; Exposition Park, with the Museum of Science and Industry and the Museum of Natural History and Hancock Park, between the residential districts between Melrose, Wilton and Wilshire, noted for its 1920’s architecture. The Los Angeles county museum of Art is located on Wilshire Blvd and houses collections of contemporary, Asiatic and Middle-Eastern art.

Other noteable museums include the Museum of Contempory Art; the Southwest Musem; the Hollywood Bowl; the Malibu and the Paul Getty Museum, a reconstruction of the Villa dei Papiri in Ercolano, home not only to the museum, but to an art research and study centre, set up by the millionaire Paul Getty. The museum’s collection includes 18th century American artists, Renaissance, Baroque, Roman and Greek art.