2 Best Sights in Massachusetts, USA

From vaudeville to film to opera to concerts the Orpheum has seen it all in its storied 172 years. Built in 1852, it is one of the oldest theaters in the United States. Unfortunately, the city has grown up around it, and passersby might just miss finding it, as it sits back from Tremont Street. To get inside the Orpheum today, you must purchase a ticket to one of its special events.

While Boston's Symphony Hall—the home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops—is considered among the best in the world for its sublime acoustics, it's also worth visiting to enjoy its other merits. The stage is framed by an enormous organ facade and an intricate golden proscenium. Above the second balcony are 16 replicas of Greek and Roman statues, which, like the rest of the hall, marry the acoustic and aesthetic by creating niches and uneven surfaces to enhance the acoustics of the space. Although acoustical science was a brand-new field of research when Professor Wallace Sabine planned the interior, not one of the 2,500 seats is a bad one—the secret is the box-within-a-box design.