5 Facts About Tennessee's Capital: How Well Do You Know Nashville?

Many interesting facts about Nashville center around its most popular moniker, Music City USA. However, the epicenter of country music is also steeped in history and rich culture that ties it to Greece, American politics, horse racing and education.

Here are five facts about Nashville:

1. Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the U.S. and brilliant general during the War of 1812, moved to Nashville in 1788 after growing up in the Carolinas. His beloved mansion, The Hermitage, has been painstakingly restored and is available for the public to tour. Jackson and several family members are laid to rest on the grounds.

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2. The Parthenon, a full-scale replica of the original in Greece, serves as the "centerpiece of Centennial Park, Nashville's premier urban park." It is the only replica of its kind in the world — appropriately doubling as the museum of art for the city — and one of Nashville's nicknames, the Athens of the South, inspired architects to build the replica for the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition fair.

3. Belle Meade, meaning beautiful meadow, was founded by John Harding in 1807, but did not take up the name until 1820. Harding revolutionized the American thoroughbred market by establishing auction sales, which made him the "most successful thoroughbred breeder and distributor in the State of Tennessee." War Admiral and Seabiscuit trace their lineage back to Bonnie Scotland, a famous stud horse owned by the Harding family.

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4. Nashville houses one of the oldest universities in the South, Vanderbilt University. The campus sits adjacent to Centennial Park and boasts many celebrated alumni, including James Patterson, an author; Robert Penn Warren, an American poet/novelist and June Carter Cash, singer/songwriter and second wife of Johnny Cash. Average enrollment is about 13,000 students, and the university, along with its affiliated hospitals, is the largest employer in the entire state.

5. Settled on Christmas Day in 1779, Nashville totals 533 square miles, making it "the nation's city with the second largest land mass," according to Nashville Music City. It is comprised of 13 counties and is home to nearly 2 million residents. It's land mass has grown exponentially from just six square miles in 1860.

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