Introduction
Lodging
Restaurants
Recreation
Attractions
Parks
Calendar of
Events
Museums &
Galleries
Architectural
Wonders
Directions
Towns
Adams
Alford
Becket
Cheshire
Clarksburg
Dalton
Egremont
Florida
Great Barrington
Hancock
Hinsdale
Housatonic
Lanesborough
Lee
Lenox
Monterey
Mount Washington
New Marlborough
North Adams
Otis
Peru
Pittsfield
Richmond
Sandisfield
Savoy
Sheffield
Stockbridge
Tyringham
Washington
West Stockbridge
Williamstown
Windsor
Introduction
|
 Arrowhead
780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield (413) 442-1793
See where author Herman Melville wrote his timeless classic,
Moby Dick. During the mid-19th century, Melville's family
lived just outside of Albany, New York. The family farm, though, sat
due south in Pittsfield, Mass., and in 1850, Herman, his wife
Lizzie, and their baby son Malcolm spent the summer.
The region's incomparable beauty, particularly the view of
Mount Greylock, moved Melville's emotions. It was Nathaniel
Hawthorne who talked him into moving here. Hawthorne and Melville
met in the company of mutual friends who had arranged a get-together
at Monument Mountain, just south of Pittsfield. Also present was
Oliver Wendell Holmes, who, like Hawthorne, lived in the Berkshires. |
Berkshire Albany
Ballet
210 Wendall Avenue, Pittsfield (413) 442-1307
This professional company presents full-length classical
ballets and contemporary works at Berkshire Community College's
Koussevitsky Arts Center. |
Berkshire
Artisans/Lichenstein Center for the Arts
28 Renne Ave., Pittsfield (413) 499-9348
This is a combination arts center and public mural program.
The Berkshire Artisans Gallery annually hosts group and individual
exhibitions juried by nationally known professionals. Between
exhibits, the gallery serves as a performance venue that is open to
area musicians, poets, dancers, and others engaged in the performing
arts. |
Berkshire Opera
Company
297 North Street, Pittsfield (413) 443-7400
See world-class performances at the Koussevitzky Arts Center, a
magnificent facility located in the lush pastoral beauty of rural
Pittsfield. The air-conditioned arts center not only facilitates
state-of-the-art operatic production, but also offers a most
intimate performance venue with clear sight lines and comfortable
seats. Convenient and ample parking make it easy to attend, and the
scenic lawns next to the theater are perfect for picnics. |
Hancock Shaker
Village
Junction, Rtes. 20 and 41, Pittsfield (413) 443-0188/(800)
817-1137
April 1 to Memorial Day weekend (late May): 10:00 a.m. to 3:00
p.m. daily.
Memorial Day through 3rd week in October: 9:30 a.m. to 5:00
p.m. daily.
Third week in October through November 30: 10:00 a.m. to 3:00
p.m. daily (closed Thanksgiving).
Winter: open for Winter Week in mid-February; winter tours by
appointment.
Pittsfield's 1,200-acre Hancock Shaker Village exists as a
lasting tribute to America's most successful communitarian society.
Essentially an outdoor history museum, the village comprises 20
original buildings, a working farm, and all of the gardens that were
so important in sustaining the religious sect's way of life, which
stresses independence from technology and the material possessions
it produces. |
Natural
Bridge/Natural Bridge State Park
Route 8 North, North Adams (413) 663-6392
(May-October) (413) 663-6312 (November-April)
Only water-eroded natural marble bridge in North America.
Bridge crosses 500-plus-foot gorge noted for its numerous faults and
fractures. |
South Mountain
Concerts
Route 7S, Pittsfield (413) 442-2106
This distinguished series features five chamber music concerts
performed at the Temple of Music concert hall on South Mountain. The
series originated in 1918 as the Berkshire Festival of Chamber
Music. This 440-seat music hall was specifically designed for
chamber music concerts and now lists on the National Register of
Historic Buildings. |
Williamstown Theater
Festival
1000 Main Street, Williamstown (413) 597-3400
This summertime institution has met with critical acclaim ever
since its inception in 1955. Nationally renowned critic Rex Reed
once described a production as "the most electrifying
theatrical event of the summer," and the Boston Globe
says that the Festival has been producing "miracles every
summer since 1955." Newsweek has described the Festival
as "the best of all American summer theaters," and People
magazine recently opined that "the showbiz capital of the U.S.
may, for once, be on neither coast." |
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