Explore the real-world places that appear in The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Art Institute of Chicago, Yale Tishman's Apartment, Oak Street Beach, Howard Brown Health Center, Lake View Presbyterian Church and 9 more.
111 S Michigan Ave — Yale's world of art history and desire
Yale Tishman, the protagonist, works as an art history professor and curator at the Art Institute, a position that grounds his identity in Chicago's cultural world. His scholarly work on Italian Renaissance paintings reflects his refined aesthetic sensibility and serves as a counterpoint to the chaos of the AIDS crisis destroying his circle. The museum becomes a refuge where Yale loses himself in beauty while his closest friends are dying.
The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of America's oldest and largest art museums. Its Beaux-Arts building on Michigan Avenue opened in 1893 for the World's Columbian Exposition and has been a cornerstone of Chicago's cultural identity for over a century.
The Art Institute remains one of the world's premier art museums with over 750,000 artworks. It is open to the public and welcomes nearly two million visitors annually, maintaining its position as a flagship cultural institution.
Visit: Art Institute of Chicago (museum)
Lincoln Park neighborhood — Yale's sanctuary and gathering place
Yale's spacious Lincoln Park apartment serves as a gathering place for his circle of friends—Richard, Fiona, and others—where they congregate to share meals, gossip, and support each other. The apartment becomes increasingly a place of vigil as friends sicken and die. Yale's carefully curated home reflects his taste and his attempt to maintain normalcy and beauty amid the epidemic's devastation.
Lincoln Park has been Chicago's most affluent and desirable neighborhood since the late 19th century, home to intellectuals, artists, and professionals. The tree-lined streets and lakefront proximity have made it a cultural hub for generations.
Lincoln Park remains one of Chicago's most prestigious residential neighborhoods, known for its historic brownstones, boutique shops, and proximity to Lincoln Park Zoo and the lakefront. It continues to attract artists, academics, and professionals.
Along Lake Michigan — Summer freedom and fleeting joy
Yale and his friends gather at Oak Street Beach during the early summers of the epidemic, enjoying moments of sun, swimming, and temporary escape from the growing crisis. These scenes capture the desperate gaiety and denial of the early 1980s, when young gay men in Chicago tried to maintain their pleasures while death crept closer. The beach represents a liminal space between freedom and encroaching darkness.
Oak Street Beach has been a gathering place for Chicagoans since the early 20th century. It became particularly important to Chicago's gay community as a social hub and cruising ground, especially during the summer months.
Oak Street Beach remains a popular public beach on Lake Michigan, accessible year-round. It is a landmark gathering spot for swimmers, sunbathers, and the local gay community, maintaining its historical significance.
Visit: Oak Street Beach (park)
4025 N Sheridan Rd — Medical care and crisis response
Howard Brown Health Center becomes a crucial site in the novel's depiction of the AIDS crisis in Chicago. Yale and other characters navigate the emerging medical infrastructure, seeking diagnoses, treatment, and care. The center represents both hope and the inadequacy of medical response to the epidemic's scale and speed.
Howard Brown Health Center, founded in 1974, was one of the nation's first LGBT health centers. During the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, it became a vital resource for Chicago's gay community, providing pioneering treatment and support.
Howard Brown Health Center continues to operate as a leading LGBTQ+ health organization in Chicago, providing comprehensive primary care, HIV services, and mental health support to thousands annually.
Visit: Howard Brown Health Center (historic site)
716 W Addison Ave — Spirituality and community mourning
This church in the Lakeview neighborhood becomes a site of memorial services and spiritual gathering for Yale's community as friends die. The services held here mark the passage of the epidemic through Chicago's gay world, where death becomes routine and spiritual practices offer solace to the grieving.
Lake View Presbyterian Church was established in the late 19th century and has served the Lakeview neighborhood continuously. It became an important community anchor during the AIDS crisis, offering pastoral care to marginalized populations.
The church continues to serve its community and remains a historic landmark in Lakeview, though its specific role during the AIDS crisis is less publicly documented than some other institutions.
Jewish Quarter and LGBTQ+ hub — Fiona's refuge and Yale's search
In the novel's second timeline, Yale travels to Paris searching for Fiona, who has been living in the Marais district for decades. The Marais, with its Jewish history and contemporary queer culture, represents both refuge and the weight of historical trauma. Yale walks these streets trying to understand how his sister vanished into European life and art, encountering the echoes of another catastrophe—the Holocaust.
The Marais is Paris's oldest neighborhood, with roots dating to the medieval period. It became the center of Parisian Jewish life from the 13th century onwards, and was devastated by Nazi occupation during World War II. In the post-war period, it emerged as a thriving LGBTQ+ cultural district.
The Marais remains one of Paris's most vibrant neighborhoods, home to galleries, boutiques, cafés, and one of Europe's largest gay communities. It is a major tourist destination known for its historic architecture and contemporary cultural energy.
Visit: Le Marais, Paris (landmark)
12 Rue Cortot — Art, history, and cultural memory in Paris
During Yale's Paris storyline, he encounters art and cultural institutions that connect to Fiona's life and artistic pursuits. The Parisian art world—represented through various museums and galleries—contrasts with the Chicago art scene, showing how Fiona may have reinvented herself in Europe's more accepting cultural landscape.
Musée de Montmartre, housed in the historic Maison du Bel Air, preserves the artistic and bohemian heritage of Montmartre. It documents the neighborhood's role as a center of artistic innovation from the late 19th century through the present.
The museum is open to the public and showcases Montmartre's artistic legacy through exhibitions, paintings, and historical artifacts. It remains a destination for those interested in the history of Paris's artistic communities.
Visit: Musée de Montmartre (museum)
8 Rue Nélaton, Paris — Historical trauma and collective memory
The novel's Paris sections resonate with the shadow of the Holocaust, particularly as Yale researches historical documents and encounters the weight of 20th-century Jewish persecution. The Vel' d'Hiv roundup and its memorial underscore the novel's meditation on catastrophe, persecution, and how societies remember or forget collective trauma.
The Vélodrome d'Hiver (Vel' d'Hiv) was the site of the July 1942 roundup of over 13,000 Parisian Jews, most of whom were deported to Auschwitz. For decades the event was largely forgotten; a memorial was eventually erected in 1994 to commemorate this tragedy.
The site where the velodrome once stood now features a memorial garden and plaque. The memory of the roundup is commemorated annually, and the site serves as an important landmark for Holocaust remembrance in Paris.
Visit: Vel' d'Hiv Memorial (monument)
6 Rue de Turenne, Paris — Archives, research, and discovery
Yale's research into Fiona's life in Paris involves exploring archives and historical documents, which may include visits to specialized libraries and collections. The search through historical records parallels his search for understanding what happened to his sister and how she constructed her European identity.
The Bibliothèque Forney, located in the Marais, specializes in decorative arts, design, and fashion history. It houses extensive archives and collections that document visual and material culture from the Middle Ages to the present.
The Forney Library is open to researchers and the public for exhibitions. It remains an important resource for scholars of art, design, and cultural history in Paris.
Visit: Bibliothèque Forney (library)
Evanston campus — Academic world and intellectual community
Yale's connections to Chicago's academic world are rooted in institutions like Northwestern. His intellectual life and professional identity as an art historian are shaped by the academic community. The university represents the refined, cultured milieu that Yale inhabits before the epidemic transforms his world.
Northwestern University, founded in 1851, is one of the nation's premier research universities. Its Evanston campus sits on the shores of Lake Michigan and has been a center of intellectual and cultural life in the Chicago region for over 170 years.
Northwestern remains one of the world's leading research universities, with acclaimed programs across disciplines. The Evanston campus is accessible to visitors and hosts cultural events, lectures, and exhibitions throughout the year.
Visit: Northwestern University (landmark)
Halsted Street corridor — Heart of Chicago's LGBTQ+ community
Boystown is the beating heart of Yale's social world in Chicago. He and his friends frequent bars, restaurants, and social spaces in this neighborhood, where gay culture thrives openly. The district represents community, freedom, and desire—until the epidemic transforms it into a place of loss and mortality. Many of Yale's circle live and die in this neighborhood.
Boystown emerged as a distinct LGBTQ+ neighborhood beginning in the 1970s, becoming one of America's first openly gay neighborhoods. By the 1980s, it was a thriving cultural and commercial hub with bars, shops, and a strong sense of community identity.
Boystown remains Chicago's primary LGBTQ+ neighborhood, though it has become increasingly commercialized and less exclusively gay. It continues to host Pride Parade festivities and maintains numerous bars, restaurants, and businesses catering to the community.
Visit: Boystown, Chicago (landmark)
1601 N Clark St — Recording memory and community history
The Chicago History Museum represents the institutional memory of the city. As Yale moves through the novel and later reflects on his community's devastation, the concept of how history is recorded, preserved, and remembered becomes central. The museum symbolizes the civic responsibility to document and honor the lives lost to AIDS.
The Chicago History Museum, founded in 1856, is one of the oldest cultural institutions in Chicago. It has documented the city's history through extensive archives, collections, and exhibitions.
The Chicago History Museum remains open to the public and houses extensive collections on Chicago history, culture, and the experiences of its diverse communities. It continues to expand its archival work and exhibitions.
Visit: Chicago History Museum (museum)
4001 N Clark St — Graves, memory, and mortality
Graceland Cemetery, Chicago's most prestigious burial ground, serves as a symbol of mortality and remembrance throughout the novel. As characters die from AIDS, they are buried or memorialized; the cemetery becomes a haunting counterpoint to the vibrant life of the community. Yale may visit graves of fallen friends, contemplating the permanence of death against the ephemeral nature of life.
Graceland Cemetery, established in 1860, is one of America's most beautiful cemeteries with monuments to Chicago's most prominent citizens, architects, and notable figures. Its landscape design has been influential in American cemetery traditions.
Graceland Cemetery remains an active burial ground and is open to visitors and researchers. It is known for its architectural monuments and peaceful grounds, attracting those interested in Chicago history and the art of memorial design.
Visit: Graceland Cemetery (historic site)
Venice, Italy — Romance, beauty, and European escape
References to Venice and its iconic cafés evoke the beauty and romance that exist in the novel's vision of European life. Fiona's disappearance into European art and culture is symbolized by the refinement and aesthetic pleasure of places like Venice, contrasting with the crisis unfolding in Chicago.
Café Florian, established in 1720, is one of the oldest cafés in Europe and has been a gathering place for artists, intellectuals, and visitors to Venice for nearly three centuries. It exemplifies the Old World aesthetic and cultural refinement.
Café Florian continues to operate as a historic café in Venice's Piazza San Marco. It remains a tourist destination and cultural landmark, preserving its 18th-century atmosphere and tradition.
Visit: Caffè Florian (restaurant)
More by Rebecca Makkai: All Rebecca Makkai books
More novels set in Chicago: Browse all Chicago books on Map A Story
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