Grace Cathedral & Russian Hill - San Francisco Full City Guide - Travel & Discover

Located on Knob Hill, San Francisco's Grace Cathedral is a soaring neo-gothic structure that hosts a vibrant and inclusive Episcopalian congregation and is adorned with many notable works of medieval style art. Grace Cathedral appears to be made of stone, but is in fact constructed of reinforced concrete that was beaten to achieve a stone-like effect. Russian Hill, another of the city's well-known hills, is a residential neighborhood with pockets of restaurants and shops. It feels a bit more visitor-friendly than its more stately neighbor, Knob Hill. The neighborhood got its name when gold rushers found seven Cyrillic-inscribed gravestones at the top of the hill. Consensus on the identity of the Russian men buried there—they were reputed to be anything from sailors to fur trappers—was never reached. The gravestones disappeared in the late 1800s, and the Russian influence is long gone. San Francisco expanded, and as it grew, so did its beauty. San Francisco's cable cars changed the city's history, displacing the many poor inhabitants of Russian Hill and the Financial District Hills, with the Nabobs, extremely wealthy San Franciscans who could now scale and conquer the steep hills with ease. A unique and breathtaking metropolis, the city takes pride in its unrivaled attractions, world-renowned museums, and unique neighborhoods, which are treasures in their own right. San Francisco has always been a place for dreamers, a far-flung city perched on the edge of the ocean, where incredible fantasies have a way of catching hold and becoming reality. Throughout its history, San Francisco has been brought low by earthquakes, fires, and economic busts, yet like a phoenix, it always rises anew, brighter and reinvigorated. The history of San Francisco is rich, as can be seen from its incredible buildings and houses, and is vibrant with larger-than-life figures that have added color to its foggy hills and valleys.