Raleigh: the capital of the Research Triangle

The North Carolina State Capitol, in Greek neoclassical style, remains one of the best-preserved American state buildings of its original period.

Just a short walk away, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, among the largest in the southeastern United States, displays dinosaur skeletons and regional fauna.

Continuing toward downtown, one visits the City Market, a historic neighborhood with red brick buildings now converted into galleries and restaurants.

As evening falls, the Glenwood South neighborhood brings to life establishments and restaurants frequented by the city's vibrant tech community.

Raleigh, together with Durham and Chapel Hill, forms the celebrated Research Triangle, one of the major technological and university hubs in the eastern United States, born around three major universities in the region and today home to major global companies.

The city takes its name from Sir Walter Raleigh, English explorer who financed the first attempts at British colonization of the New World in the sixteenth century, efforts that never managed to establish a permanent settlement.