Downtown Cincinnati rolls back from the Ohio River to fill the flat Basin area, ringed by a disarray of steep hills. During the city's emergent industrial years, the filth, disease, crime and general commotion of the so-called Sausage and Rat rows led the middle classes to abandon downtown en masse. Nowadays, however, attractive stores, street vendors, restaurants, cafés, open spaces and gardens occupy the area. The city's rich blend of architecture is best appreciated on the walking tour detailed in an excellent free booklet from the visitor centers. Over, among and even right through the hotel plazas, office lobbies and retail areas, the Skywalk network of air-conditioned passages and flyovers spans sixteen city blocks.

At the geographic center of downtown, the Genius of the Waters in Fountain Square sprays a cascade of hundreds of jets to symbolize the city's trading links. Surrounded by a tree-dotted plaza and all but enclosed by soaring facades of glass and steel, the area is a popular lunch spot and venue for daytime concerts. Looming above at Fifth and Vine streets, the 48-story Art Deco Carew Tower has a viewing gallery on its top floor that gives a wonderful panorama of the tight bends of the Ohio River and the surrounding hillsides (Mon-Thurs 9.30am-5.30pm, Fri & Sat 9.30am-9pm, Sun 11am-5pm; $2).

Just east of Fountain Square are the Art Deco headquarters of the detergents giant Procter and Gamble . The company was formed in 1837 by candlemaker William Procter and soapmaker James Gamble, to exploit the copious supply of animal fat from the slaughterhouses of " Porkopolis ", as Cincinnati was then known. A shady style of management has spawned tales of dubious religious and political links; the corporate logo even had to be changed to counter accusations that it was a satanic symbol. By sponsoring radio's "Puddle Family" in 1932, the company created the world's first soap opera .

Nearby, the left-field multimedia modern art exhibitions at the superb Contemporary Arts Center , in the Mercantile Center at 115 E 5th St (Mon-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun noon-5pm; $3.50, free Mon; tel 513/721-0390, ), lead to continual run-ins with Cincy's more conservative citizens. By contrast, the Taft Museum , just east of downtown in an immacu-late 1820 Federal-style mansion at 316 Pike St (Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm; $4), contains a priceless collection of works by Rembrandt, Goya, Turner and Gainsborough, plus some staggering Ming porcelain and French enamels. The statue of a weary Abraham Lincoln in Lytle Park , in front of the museum, was criticized as unpatriotic when unveiled in 1917; it's now seen as a great example of sculptural realism.

Downtown

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