The Palace of Fine Arts has been a favorite wedding location for couples throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. A renovation restoring the interior of the dome, the walkways around the Palace and a seismic retrofit was completed in early 2009. The lagoon was intended to echo those found in classical settings in Europe, where the expanse of water provides a mirror surface to reflect the grand buildings and an undisturbed vista to appreciate them from a distance. Australian eucalyptus trees fringe the eastern shores. Many forms of wildlife have made their home there including swans, ducks (particularly migrating fowl), geese, turtles, frogs and raccoons.
Constructed as a temporary attraction for the 1915 Pan-Pacific International Exhibition, this Grecian temple of a monument continues to enchant and enhance the city. The original plaster, which made up the monuments exterior, has been gradually replaced with funds raised by Marinas well-heeled residents who were loath to lose such a graceful part of their landscape. Swans in the adjoining lagoon glide by the soaring ochre-tinted colonnades and the imposing dome ringed with panels of centaurs and warriors engaged in battle over nubile maidens. Those column-top statues of sorrowing maidens turned away from prying eyes are using their tears to water the long-gone oaks that originally stood in the planters that they surround. Stroll inside the dome, clap your hands and marvel at the uncanny acoustics, then enjoy a picnic lunch on one of the park benches scattered to provide an unparalleled view of this gem.