You're standing in a gallery, and you may not know it.

This city, this weird city of wonders—it's a place where Greek iniquity coexists with the Grand Ole Opry, where giant statues in the classical tradition usher visitors onto the avenue built and paved by hillbilly music. Neither by itself defines Nashville as a place. Rather, it's that combination of new and old, rural and urban, lowdown and highbrow, that sometimes gives Nashville the feel of an enormous exhibition—a museum that expands and changes with each new wing.

In our 19th Best of Nashville issue, we offer a guided tour of that museum and its masterpieces—many marvelous, some cracked, all ours. Here you'll find beloved local restaurants and brand-new hangouts, established musicians and rising talents, longtime civic leaders and upstarts giving our foundation a needed shake. You'll find places and people hidden in plain sight, along with reminders of the treasures we sometimes take for granted.

Now step right up and come on in—if you'd like to take the grand tour.