Palace of Fine Arts Theatre

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Top 1% of attractions in San Francisco
8 / 10

11 expert reviews

“Ranking among San Francisco's best-known landmarks, this grand rotunda and peristyle were replicated from structures designed by renowned architect Bernard Maybeck.”

– Michelin Guide

Fodor's Fodor's
"At first glance this stunning, rosy rococo palace seems to be from another world, and indeed, it's the sole survivor of the many tinted-plaster structures." Full review
Concierge Concierge
"A mock-classical ruin erected for the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition in 1915, the Palace of Fine Arts was originally fashioned from wood, plaster, and burlap."
Lonely Planet Lonely Planet
Top Choice
"Like a fossilized party favor, this romantic, ersatz Greco-Roman ruin is the memento San Francisco kept from the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition." Full review
Condé Nast Traveler Condé Nast Traveler
"A mock-classical ruin erected for the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition... was eventually recast in concrete in the '60s." Full review
Not For Tourists Not For Tourists
"Designed for the 1915 World's Fair by Bernard Maybeck, the Roman ruin's grandeur is strikingly beautiful."
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