Centennial Olympic Park is perhaps Atlanta's best-known landmark. At least since 1996, that is. The park was built that year to commemmorate the 1996 Summer Olympics which were held here in Atlanta, the 100th Olympic games ever, hence the Centennial.
The sprawling park is located west of downtown, between downtown Atlanta and the World Congress Center. It's 21 acres are home to a vast array of sights and sounds.
The key feature of this park is the Fountain of Rings, which involve the Olympic anthem playing on repeat, while the visitor is dazzled by an impressive lights and water show, in the shape of the Olympic rings. This part of the park will be closed from November 2006 to March 2007, so plan around.
In the summer, the Fountain of Rings become a popular splash pad for children to play in.
The Centennial Olympic Park is home to the summer On The Bricks music festival, where tens of thousands of people come together to listen to live music.
There are also a series of neat Olympic torches that line the park, as well as some beautiful pieces of artwork. On some of the artwork, there is visible scarring from the unfortunate 1996 terrorist bombings that took place here that left two people dead and many injured.
There is a skating rink in the winter months that is available to use at a nominal fee.
Like all city parks, admission is free and the park is open 24/7. From the park, it is very easy to get awesome photos of the Atlanta skyline, which truly is one of the nicest - if not the nicest - skyline in America.
For more info on the park visit:
www.centennialpark.com