This 700-room French Second Empire structure designed by John McArthur was completed in 1901. The enormous structure with its solid masonry walls was almost obsolete, and in the early 20C there was talk of demolishing it. The very cost of demolition ..

Housed in a glass-fronted pavilion on Independence Mall, the Liberty Bell was crafted in London's Whitechapel Foundry in 1751, but developed a crack soon after its arrival in Philadelphia and had to be recast by local metalsmiths John Pass and John S..

This is one of the most significant art museums in the US. Its roots trace back to the late 19C, when the state legislature called for the building of a permanent structure to serve as an art gallery during the 1876 Centennial Exposition. Today the m..

This Medieval Norman-style granite structure (1873) marked by spires and towers was conceived by Masonic brother James Windrim. Elaborate interior rooms-designed by George Herzog-are decorated in motifs reflecting the orders of Masonry: Moorish, Goth..

Housed in an ornate brick and limestone Victorian structure (1876, Frank Furness and George Hewitt), the museum exhibits three centuries of artistic styles. Arranged in chronological order, galleries display works from the 18C "Grand Manner"..

This copper-domed Italian Renaissance cathedral (1846) features interior highlights which include a coffered, barrel-vaulted ceiling overarching the transept and nave, and a dome oculus painted by Constantine Brumidi.

Opened in 1824, the bank was one of the world's most powerful financial institutions until President Andrew Jackson revoked its charter in 1836. Since its restoration in 1974, the building has provided a permanent home for People of Independence, an ..

Forming the southern border of Society Hill, trend South Street has been a mecca for the counterculture since the 1960s. The blocks between the waterfront and 10th Street are lined with myriad shops, hip restaurants and cutting-edge clubs.

Founded in 1824 to teach science to artisans and mechanics, the Franklin Institute and its museum have made science entertaining. Inside, three floors of exhibits treat subjects from communications and transportation to computer technology and geolog..

This stately home (1786) was occupied by the Physick family until 1940, when it was willed to the Pennsylvania Hospital. In the 1960s, philanthropists Walter and Lenore Annenberg purchased the property and funded the renovation that turned the house ..

Demolished long ago, the residence has been re-created as a steel-frame "ghost structure," as has the 1786 print shop Franklin built for his grandson. An underground museum houses an ingenious array of audiovisual presentations that celebra..

This elegant Georgian brick edifice (1754) boasts a tower and a "Philadelphia steeple." The church's Royalist congregation changed dramatically during the Revolution, when George Washington and 15 signers of the Declaration of Independence ..

A fine group of decorative arts complements the library's 30,000 books and 300,000 manuscripts; a prize among the latter is James Joyce's handwritten Ulysses manuscript.

Dating from 1812, the Academy is one of the oldest science research institutions in the Western Hemisphere. On the first floor, the acclaimed Discovering Dinosaurs exhibit displays skeletons and details the rigors of uncovering fossils. Life-size dio..

The meeting place for the House of Representatives and Senate of the fledgling United States from 1790 to 1800.

Old City Hall housed the US Supreme Court from 1791 to 1800.

This steepled Georgian brick building (1756) was constructed as the Pennsylvania State House. In May 1775, delegates of the Second Continental Congress met here to determine the colonies' response to increasing British hostility. The following year, ..

The small 1920s Beaux-Arts structure and its surrounding gardens, designed by Paul Cret and Jacques Gréber, house 124 sculptures by French artist Auguste Rodin (1840-1917).

Betsy Ross, who is credited with making the first Stars and Stripes flag, lived here after her husband, Patriot John Ross, died in 1776. Her living quarters and shop are preserved in the brick, gable-roofed home (c.1740).

In the 18C and ealry 19C, well-heeled Philadelphians built rural retreats on the bluffs above the Schuylkill River. Today the seven elegant homes open to the public provide fine examples of domestic period architecture. Among them is the oldest, 1746..