Amidst all the changes the city of San Francisco has seen, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church has stood unmoved. Standing on Mission Street, the Church was founded in 1851 and has borne many winds of change. The white and gold Botticino marble and the green Connemara marble distinctly bring out the Irish colours in the architecture of the building. The high ceilings and the tall ornate altar of the Church captivate every visitor of the Church.

Since its consecration, the Church has seen many changes in the city of San Francisco. It saw the fire and earthquake of 1906, but stood unperturbed and served the Irish immigrants in the area. With the intrusion of the Spanish speaking population, the Church served them alike, just the way it now treats its Fillipino community. Certain weekdays, the Church organizers arrange for lunchtime concerts for those who like chamber music. For tourists and city dwellers alike, the Church is a place to find solace from the hustle and bustle of the area surrounding it.

Weddings and Baptisms are common in the Church. However, the Latin Mass on Sundays is popular and soothing. The richness of the Church can be seen on the green stained Tiffany styled windows which were imported from Ireland and display thirty two patron saints, each belonging to a county in Ireland.

James Clair Flood, known as one of the ‘Bonanza Kings’ was famous for two buildings, Linden Towers in Menlo Park and James C. Flood Mansion in San Francisco. Although, Linden Towers was brought down in 1936, Flood Mansion stands as Pacific-Union Club today.

Born in New York, Flood came to California around the time gold was discovered in San Francisco. He started off a saloon, then a stock broking firm which went on to become the richest firm in America in less than 20 years of its inception. The firm then started a mining operations in Comstock Lode, the biggest silver mine in the world. The firm also set up the Bank of Nevada.

Flood then built this 42 room mansion in 1885, a couple of years before his death. The brownstone used in the construction was shipped around Cape Horn. The location of the mansion is the Nob Hill, which was the most opulent area at that time. However, the fire gutted this structure in 1906 although the building survived the earthquake. The Pacific-Union Club soon took over this building in 1907 and maintained the structure, whist using it as the headquarters for their operations. The structure has been unaltered ever since and was declared as a National Historic Landmark in 1966.

An Episcopal church, the Grace Cathedral is visited by Christians and tourists from all over the world. Built in 1849, the Grace Church was a little chapel located at a different site. A fire in 1906 destroyed the Grace Cathedral, as it was called then. A daughter cathedral was then commissioned at the Nob Hill site by the Crocker family, which is the present day Grace Cathedral. Lewis Hobart designed this magnificent structure in French Gothic style which was then built in concrete and steel.

The Cathedral is visited by tourists for the famous work of De Rosen. De Rosen’s work in the Cathedral is visible in the aisle, as an altar piece in the Chapel of Grace and as a mural in the Chapel of Nativity’s Adoration, where one can also see De Rosen’s childhood home in Warsaw. The Ghiberti Doors, replica of the east door at the Florence Baptistery, add to the beauty of the Grace Cathedral. The patterns on the labyrinth of the Cathedral are capable of bringing one to a meditative state. The Cathedral has over 7000 sq. ft of breath-taking glass windows depicting over 1000 figures in human history. A forty four bell carillon is rung to mark important days in the history of the city and the country. The Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys is one of the only seven remaining men and boys choir of the Episcopal Church.

Located on the corner of Grant Avenue and California Street, the Old Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception has witnessed the progress of the city of San Francisco since its inception in 1854. Built to serve as the Cathedral for the city, this structure was once the tallest building in the city. Commissioned by the new Bishop, Joseph Alemany, the Cathedral was built from the donations given by John Sullivan, an Irish emigrant and the Christian and Jew communities of the area.

The area surrounding the Cathedral faced moral deterioration, with the rise of Chinese gangs and brothels. A sign under the clock face, to this date reminds men of taking the right path in life and not be attracted by evil. Though the Cathedral survived the earthquake of 1906, a fire that followed destroyed the church bells and the altar. The Cathedral was then renovated in 1909 after much debate. The fire had also destroyed the bars and brothels in the neighbourhood and the new settlers of the area took to Christianity. The Cathedral then underwent expansion by building three chapels and a 500 seat auditorium. During the Second World War, the Cathedral acted as a relief point for over 450,000 soldiers, where they could have a meal or celebrate a holiday away from home.

Apart from being the second tallest building in the city of San Francisco, 555 California Street, is a display of wealth and power of the Bank of America. Formerly known as the Bank of America Centre, this 52- story sky scraper is located in the “FiDi” or Financial District, a commercial area of San Francisco city. Built in 1969, the building was designed by Pietro Belluschi and architectural responsibilities were shared by famous firms Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and Wurster, Bernardi and Emmons.

A large plaza made as a mark of honour for A.P. Giannini, the founder of the Bank of America, lies to the north of the building. Masayuki Nagare’s granite sculpture called ‘Transcendence’ is located in this plaza. A high speed elevator would take you to the exclusive restaurant on the 52nd floor called the ‘Carnelian Room’- derived from carnelian granite, which this building is clad in. However, the recession closed this unique restaurant in 2009. The bay windows commonly seen in the city also form of a part of this magnanimous architecture.

Apart from housing offices of some big names in business like Goldman Sachs, Kirkland and Ellis, Barclays Capital, Morgan Stanley etc., the building has also made appearances in movies like ‘An Eye for an Eye’ and ‘The Towering Inferno’. The 1998 merger with Nations Bank moved the headquarters of Bank of America to Charlotte and the $1.05 billion sale in 2005, renamed the building 555 California Street, as we know it today.

The Transamerica Pyramid is the tallest and most recognizable skyscraper in the San Francisco skyline. Designed by architect William Pereira, at 260 m (850 ft), upon completion it was among the 5 tallest buildings in the world. Built on the location of the historic Montgomery Block, it has a structural height of 260 m (850 ft) and contains 48 floors of retail and office space. Construction began in 1969 and finished in 1972. The building is a tall, four-sided pyramid with two "wings" on either side to accommodate an elevator shaft on the east and a stairwell and a smoke tower on the west. The top 64.6 m (212 ft) of the building is the spire.

Coit Tower was built in Pioneer Park atop Telegraph Hill in 1933 at the bequest of Lillie Hitchcock Coit to beautify the City of San Francisco. Although the architects claimed to have no design precedent in mind, during this time Europe saw the construction of aesthetically designed power stations that could be claimed as prototypes. The art deco tower, 210 feet (64 m) of unpainted reinforced concrete, was designed by architects Arthur Brown, Jr. and Henry Howard with murals by 26 different artists and numerous assistants. Coit Tower took 5 years to build.