Chicago, formally known as the City of Chicago, is by far the most populous city in the United States and the world’s third most populous city. Chicago was founded in 1837 on the beaches of freshwater Lake Michigan, at a portage connecting the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basin. Chicago, once a modest trade station, has grown into a major international financial, cultural, commercial, industrial, educational, telecommunications, technical, and transportation powerhouse known as “Little America.” 

The city is home to amazing architecture, adventure, nature, skyscrapers, gastronomy, and, of course, history. There are countless sights in Chicago that will make your heart soar, from the mountains to the sea. Visiting Chicago is an excellent way to expand your horizons. That being said, let’s look at the 6 places where you can learn something in Chicago.

The Chicago Water Tower

The Chicago Water Tower is a contributing property and monument in Chicago, Illinois, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located in the Old Chicago Water Tower District. Built in 1869 to protect the lofty gear of a strong water pump, it gained notoriety when it survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, despite the fact that the land surrounding it was completely destroyed.

The tower is located at 806 North Michigan Avenue, in the Jane M. Byrne Plaza, in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois, along the Magnificent Mile shopping district. The tower was built to contain a massive water pump that would pull water from Lake Michigan. It is the 2^nd oldest water tower in the United States. The Historic Water Tower presently houses the Chicago Office of Tourism and the City Gallery. Photographers, painters, and filmmakers from the area are featured.

The Field Museum of Natural History

The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), is a world-renowned natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois. Because of the scale and quality of its educational and scientific programmes, as well as its large scientific-specimen and artefact collections, the museum is a popular natural-history museum. The permanent exhibitions, which draw up to two million people each year, feature fossils, contemporary cultures from throughout the world, and interactive programming that demonstrates today’s pressing conservation needs. Marshall Field, the department store magnate who was the museum’s first major supporter, is honoured with the museum’s name. The museum and its collections are based on the artefacts on display at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.

The museum has a rotating exhibition programme that includes both travelling shows and in-house produced topical displays. Nearly 24 million specimens and artefacts are cared for by the museum’s professional staff, and they serve as the cornerstone for the museum’s scientific research programmes.  These collections include everything from living biodiversity to diamonds, fossils, meteorites, and large anthropological and cultural artefact collections from around the world.

The Lookingglass Theatre Company

The Lookingglass Theatre Company, founded in 1988, is a visually-focused theatre that specialises on cutting-edge theatrical works and current literary adaptations. The theatre, which was formed by a group of Northwestern University graduates, has grown to become one of the most important producers of original works. In both production and performance, the group is noted for its utilisation of ensemble-based theatrical techniques. The theatre also hosts a variety of community and educational events focused on transformation, creativity, and engaging the imaginations of audience members.

The Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago was founded in 1879 and is one of the world’s oldest and largest art museums. It is located in Grant Park in Chicago. The museum, which is known for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, attracts over 1.5 million visitors each year. A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat, Pablo Picasso’s The Old Guitarist, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, and Grant Wood’s American Gothic are among the works in its encyclopaedic collection, which is overseen by 11 curatorial departments. Its permanent collection of almost 300,000 works of art is supplemented by over 30 special exhibitions held each year that highlight different parts of the collection as well as cutting-edge curatorial and scientific research.

The Art Institute also contains the conservation and conservation science department, five conservation laboratories, and the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, which are among the country’s largest art history and architecture libraries.

The Willis Tower

The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 1,450-foot skyscraper in Chicago that stands 108 stories tall. It surpassed the World Trade Center in New York City to become the world’s tallest skyscraper in 1974, a title it held for nearly 25 years; For 41 years, it was the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere, until the new One World Trade Center overtook it in 2013.

Engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan’s Willis Tower is regarded as a watershed moment in his career. It is the3rd tallest structure in the US and the Western Hemisphere, also the worlds 23rd-tallest. More than one million people visit the country’s tallest observation deck each year, making it one of the most popular tourist attractions in Chicago.

The Chicago Cultural Center

The Chicago Cultural Center is not only a beautiful piece of architecture and design, but it also hosts a variety of free public events throughout the year, such as music, dance, and theatre performances, art exhibitions, films, lectures, and family events. This magnificent Chicago landmark is graced by two massive stained-glass domes. The world’s largest Tiffany stained glass dome is located on the building’s south side. On the other hand, the north side has a 50,000-piece glass dome with a beautiful Renaissance pattern. Every year, a diverse collection of artists from across the world visit the cultural venue to deliver a variety of creative and cultural performances for the general public to enjoy.