Boston, Massachusetts is one of the most important cities in the United States for academic education and research, finance, and technology-but it's also a key site in the history of the nation. Nicknamed "The Cradle of Liberty," Boston's colonial activism formed the catalyst for the American Revolution of the 1770s, and the city remained an important center of activity and protest in the early days of independence.

Still, it wasn't until 1958 that the citizens of Boston recognized the living monuments to history residing in their own back yard, dedicating and preserving those landmarks and linking them with a pedestrian trail known as the Freedom Trail. The Trail consists of a slim line of red brick (at times replaced with a line of red paint) that runs along and across the streets, sidewalks, and plazas over a winding 2.5-mile path. Along that path are 17 landmarks of major historical significance in the city, with markers explaining the events and other important attributes that transpired at each one.

Boston's reputation is as one of the world's greatest walking cities, and the Freedom Trail is perhaps its centerpiece. A curious tourist might take 2 or 3 hours to roam from one end of the trail to the other; a serious devotee of history, however, could spend a full day exploring each of the invaluable points along its path.

These are some of the more famous stops on the trail:

Boston Common. The first stop on the Freedom Trail is rich enough to merit a walking tour all its own. Boston Common is the city's central park and the oldest public city park in the United States (and perhaps the world), a 50-acre green at the southern foot of Beacon Hill. Used by families as a cow pasture at its origin in the 1630s, it quickly became the city's chief public square, the site of public hangings and protests.

In 1768, when British infantrymen occupied Boston to quell the resistance to British rule that had begun to take shape there, the Common became the soldiers' campground (where they remained until 1775, when they departed for the Battle of Lexington and Concord). However, the Common around the same time became a symbol of that resistance; an elm tree, known afterwards as "The Great Elm," became the gathering point for the patriot group The Sons of Liberty, who would hang lanterns from it as an emblem of rebellion. (The tree fell in 1876, but a plaque marks its location.) The Common also contains a cemetery, the Central Burying Ground, in which members of the Sons of Liberty and the Continental Army are buried along with British soldiers who died during the Siege of Boston and the Battle of Bunker Hill.

In addition to its historical elements, the Boston Common features attractions for modern visitors, including the Boston Public Garden, the bronze Brewer Fountain, Frog Pond, and a bandstand.

The Massachusetts State House. The state capitol building stands on what was once the estate of John Hancock, Massachusetts' first elected governor and first signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The building itself was erected in 1798 by Charles Bullfinch-arguably the first important architect of the nation-and the wooden dome at the top (now gilded in gold leaf) was rolled in sheet copper by Paul Revere. Bostonians, it should be noted, refer to the building as the "new" State House, to avoid confusion with the "old" State House (from 1731) located in the financial district.

Granary Burying Ground. Named for the grain storage building that once stood adjacent to it, the Granary Burying Ground was established in 1660. It is Boston's third oldest cemetery, and the resting place of the city's most important residents. Among them: early Massachusetts governors John Endecott and Increase Sumner; the five victims of the Boston Massacre of 1770, one of the events precipitating the Revolution; Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, and other Revolutionary War patriots; John Phillips, the first mayor of Boston; and the parents and relatives of Benjamin Franklin, who was born in Boston.

Old South Meeting House. The Old South Meeting House was built in 1729-across the street, as it happened, from the house in which Benjamin Franklin was born and raised. (Franklin was baptized in its predecessor building.) It was a Puritan church and the largest building in Colonial Boston. It was thrust into history, however, on December 16, 1773, when between five and seven thousand people gathered for a meeting led by Samuel Adams. This was the meeting point for what later that evening became the Boston Tea Party, the event that marked more than any other the start of the American Revolution.

Boston Massacre Site. A modern concrete median at the busy intersection of State and Congress Streets in the Financial District contains a circular setting of old-time cobblestones. This marks the site of the incident on 5 March 1770 that came to be known as the Boston Massacre. What started as an altercation between a British sentry and a wigmaker's apprentice turned violent, attracting a mob of angry colonists whose ranks swelled by nightfall into the hundreds, harassing the sentry and the soldiers who came to protect him. In the rising chaos, the soldiers fired into the crowd, wounding 11; five of these were killed. The event turned the tide of public favor in the colonies against British rule.

Faneuil Hall. Erected as a marketplace and assembly hall in 1742, Faneuil Hall has continually served the same purposes ever since, though it's surrounded now by modern skyscrapers and Boston City Hall. On the ground floor, Starbucks and Ann Taylor now fill the stalls that were once occupied by farmers, traders, and artisans. The second floor meeting hall, still intact, was once the place where Bostonians gathered to protest hated acts by the British Parliament, or to hear the rousing speeches by Samuel Adams or his cousin John in support of declaring independence from the Crown. The Hall is sometimes known by the same nickname as Boston itself, "The Cradle of Liberty."

Paul Revere House and Old North Church, the two prominent landmarks in the city's North End.

Bunker Hill Monument. The Battle of Bunker Hill of 17 June 1775 was the first major confrontation between British forces and American volunteers. In a historical irony, the battle did not actually take place on Bunker Hill, but the adjacent Breed's Hill. That's also where the Bunker Hill monument, a 221-foot granite obelisk, now stands as the signature structure of Boston's Charlestown section. It was dedicated with a speech by the U.S. statesman Daniel Webster in June of 1843, one of the first such monuments constructed in the United States. Visitors can make their way to the top of the monument via a 294-step staircase.

USS Constitution. The northernmost stop on the Freedom Trail is "Old Ironsides," one of the first six frigates constructed in 1797 upon creation of the United States Navy. The Constitution was named by President George Washington himself and is the oldest commissioned naval vessel in the world. She was in active service for nearly 85 years, retired at last in 1881, and saw military action in the French "Quasi-War" at the turn of the 19th century; the first Barbary War of 1803; and the War of 1812, in which her seemingly impervious victory against the British HMS Guerriere earned her "Old Ironsides" nickname. The Constitution is berthed at the Charlestown Navy Yard.

There are seven other sites on the trail as well.

Fortunately for tourists, the Freedom Trail is an actual, physical trail-meaning that visitors can follow it in its entirety without a guide, at any time of the day. During business hours, you can even go into several of the landmarks on the trail. However, guided tours are available at the Boston Common Visitors Center at 148 Tremont Street. You can also find out about other guided tours through the concierge at your hotel for the 2011 ICA Conference.