Things to do nearPhiladelphia Museum of Art Steps

The steps fronting the Philadelphia Museum of Art have been a fixture of the city's cultural landscape since the museum's main building opened in 1928. Designed in the Greek Revival style and clad in Minnesota Kasota limestone, the structure sits atop Fairmount, a low hill that gives the broad staircase its commanding presence. The architects drew on classical Athenian precedent, and the result is a building that feels both monumental and welcoming, its columns and pediment sculptures visible from well down the Parkway.

The steps entered global popular culture when they appeared in the 1976 film Rocky, in which Sylvester Stallone's character sprints to the top as part of his training. That scene transformed a grand civic staircase into a symbol of personal perseverance, and a bronze statue of the fictional boxer now stands to one side of the entrance as a permanent acknowledgment of that cultural moment. Visitors from around the world make the climb specifically to recreate it.

Beyond the cinematic association, the steps serve as a natural gathering place. From the upper landing you look straight down Benjamin Franklin Parkway toward City Hall, a perspective that captures Philadelphia's ambition to create a Champs-Elysees-style boulevard in the heart of the city. The view is particularly striking in autumn when the flanking trees turn and in winter when the Parkway is strung with lights.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art Steps reward any visitor who takes a moment to slow down, look back at the city, and appreciate a space where civic architecture, art history, and everyday life meet in an unusually satisfying way.