Legion of Honor

The Legion of Honor was built as a replica of the Palais de la Légion d’Honneur in Paris. With the permission of the French government, and at the urging of his wife Alma Spreckles, sugar magnate Adolph Spreckles spearheaded the creation of this fine arts museum on a hilltop on the northwest corner of San Francisco. The building was completed in 1924 and expanded underground in 1995.

Today the Legion of Honor’s houses over 124,000 pieces of art, with several objects from ancient Egypt and the Near East, European paintings and sculpture, and works on paper. Far from the bustle of downtown, the Legion is a pleasant place to spend a couple of hours. Beyond its impressive permanent collection, the museum invariably has a thought-provoking temporary exhibition underway (previous ones have looked at such diverse themes as royal treasures from the Louvre, Victorian era children’s books, and the surrealist photography of Man Ray). Moreover, you are in wooded Lincoln Park and close to Land’s End, a beautiful trail that winds around the wild northwestern cliffs of the San Francisco peninsula. It’s worth walking northwards after you visit the museum to take in the breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Legion of Honor also houses the Skinner Organ, with 4,500 pipes running unseen through the building, and hosts organ concerts every Saturday at 4pm.