THE FENS

(617)635-4505

A fens by any other name would be a spongy bog of sorts, but in Boston The Fens is a scenic link in the chain of green space dubbed Boston's Emerald Necklace. Located west of Mass. Ave. between Beacon Street and Huntington Ave., The Fens was, in fact, the first link in 19th-century landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted's Emerald Necklace - a chain of open space that stretches across the urban landscape encompassing Boston Common, Public, Garden, Commonwealth Avenue Mall, Charlesgate, Back Bay Fens, Muddy River at the Riverway, Jamaica Park, Arnold Arboretum, and Franklin Park.

Hired by city managers in the late 1870s to develop a plan to address the swampy conditions created by earlier in-filling of the Back Bay, Olmsted proposed installing a tidal gate to manage the flow of sea water in and out of the area. The subsequent damming of the Charles River several decades
later wreaked havoc with Olmsted's original park design by gradually changing the environment from a salt to fresh water marsh, but replacement plantings suited to the new fresh water environment thrive today. Highlights include a magnificent Rose Garden and a series of Victory Gardens planted during World War II.

Noted attractions in the area include Fenway Park, homefield for the Boston Red Sox; The Fenway, a parkway that runs adjacent to The Fens; and the Museum of Fine Arts, one of the nation's premier art museums. The Fens is also home to one of Boston's most unique attractions - the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Site of what the Boston Herald dubbed "the heist of the century" where, in March 1990, two art thieves disguised as security personnel broke in and stole paintings and artifacts valued at $13 million, the museum's collection features thousands of items collected over the years by its
flamboyant patron Isabella "Mrs. Jack" Stewart Gardner. The eclectic collection includes works by masters including Rembrandt, Titian, Rubens, Raphael, Whistler, and Sargent in addition to an array of antiques and collectibles. The treasures are displayed in a home Gardner had designed to reflect the style of a Venetian palazzo complete with an interior courtyard.
In her will, Gardner stipulated that her entire collection remain open to thepublic and that each piece remain displayed in the exact location where it stood at the time of her death which came in 1924. Subsequent overseers have honored that stipulation, so the museum remains true to Gardner's vision.
The Isabella Stewart Gardner is located at 280 The Fenway. 

Call (617)566-1401
for hours and fees.

Hours
Daily dawn to dusk
Admission/Fees
Free