10 Best Sights in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The only surviving European-style opera house in America is the current home of the Opera Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Ballet; for the past century, it was home to the Philadelphia Orchestra. Designed by Napoleon Le Brun and Gustav Runge, the 1857 building has a modest exterior; the builders ran out of money and couldn't put marble facing on the brick, as they had intended. The lavish interior, modeled after Milan's La Scala, has elaborate carvings, murals on the ceiling, and a huge Victorian crystal chandelier.

This replica of a 16th-century guesthouse was reassembled here in 1958 after being exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The architectural setting and the waterfall, gardens, Japanese trees, and pond are a serene contrast with the busy city. The house is called Shofu-So, which means "pine breeze villa," and has a roof made of the bark of the hinoki, a cypress that grows only in the mountains of Japan. There's also 20 murals by acclaimed Japanese contemporary artist Hiroshi Senju here, as well as monthly tea ceremonies, for which reservations are required.

Now Philadelphia's tallest building, the 975-foot Comcast Center is also one of its most eco-friendly: the 58-story design by Robert A.M. Stern Architects uses 40% less water than a traditional office building and also deploys its glass-curtain-wall facade to reduce energy costs significantly. Not to be missed is The Comcast Experience, a 2000-square-foot high-definition video "wall" in the building's "winter garden" lobby, which also features "Humanity in Motion," an installation of 12 life-size figures by Jonathan Borofsky that appear to be striding along girders 110 feet above. The building is also the site of an upscale food court, a steak house, and a seasonal, outdoor café.

Designed by Frederick Graff, this National Historic Landmark completed in 1815 was the first steam-pumping station of its kind in the country, and the notable assemblage of Greek Revival buildings is one of the city's most beautiful sights. The buildings, just behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art, include an interpretive center with some original features on display and kid-friendly exhibits about the region's water and the history of the water works; there's also a short film. Nearby paths provide good views of it and the Art Museum.

One Liberty Place is the 945-foot office building designed by Helmut Jahn that propelled Philadelphia into the "ultrahigh" skyscraper era. Built in 1987, it became the city's tallest structure; however, that distinction now belongs to the 975-foot Comcast Center. Vaguely reminiscent of a modern version of New York's Chrysler Building, One Liberty Place is visible from almost everywhere in the city. On the 57th floor is the One Liberty Observation Deck, which offers panoramic views of the Philadelphia skyline. Downstairs are dozens of stores and a food court. In 1990 the adjacent tower, Two Liberty Place, opened. Zeidler Roberts designed this second building with Murphy & Jahn, which now holds the Westin Philadelphia, luxury condominiums, and a restaurant on the 37th floor.

The temple is one of the city's architectural jewels, but it remains a hidden treasure even to many Philadelphians. Historically, Freemasons were skilled stoneworkers of the Middle Ages who relied on secret signs and passwords. Their worldwide fraternal order—the Free and Accepted Masons—included men in the building trades, plus many honorary members; the secret society prospered in Philadelphia during Colonial times. Brother James Windrim designed this elaborate temple as a home for the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania. The ceremonial gavel used here at the laying of the cornerstone in 1868, while 10,000 brothers looked on, was the same one that Brother George Washington used to set the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol. The temple's ornate interior consists of seven lavishly decorated lodge halls built to exemplify specific styles of architecture: Corinthian, Ionic, Italian Renaissance, Norman, Gothic, Oriental, and Egyptian. The Egyptian hall, with its accurate hieroglyphics, is the most famous. The temple also houses an interesting museum of Masonic items, including Benjamin Franklin's printing of the first book on Freemasonry published in America and George Washington's Masonic Apron.

Designed by the well-known Philadelphia architect William Strickland and built in 1832, this impressive Greek Revival building served as the city's commercial center for 50 years. It was both the stock exchange and a place where merchants met to trade goods. In the tower a watchman scanned the Delaware River and notified merchants of arriving ships. The exchange stands behind Dock Street, a cobblestone thoroughfare. The building houses a small exhibit on its history and now serves as the headquarters for Independence National Park.

This is the headquarters of the American Philosophical Society, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1743 to promote "useful knowledge." The members of the oldest learned society in America have included Washington, Jefferson, Lafayette, Emerson, Darwin, Edison, Churchill, and Einstein. Erected between 1785 and 1789 in what has been called a "restrained Federal style" (designed to complement, not outshine, adjacent Independence Hall), Philosophical Hall is brick with marble trim, has a handsome arched entrance, and houses the Society's museum, open to the public Thursday to Sunday. The society's library is across the street in Library Hall.

An elegant double staircase sweeps from Broad Street up to the entrance of this 1865 French Renaissance–style building, which was added to the National Historic Register in 1979, while within lies a bastion of Philadelphia conservatism. The Union League is a private social club founded during the Civil War to support the Union—in a big way. The club contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to the Union war effort, then a huge sum, as well as troops and other material support. While the club remains strictly private, the Heritage Center welcomes visitors a few hours every week. Tours of the full facilities are available only for groups of 20 or more.

The Contributionship, the nation's oldest fire insurance company, was founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1752; the present Greek Revival building with fluted marble Corinthian columns dates from 1836 and has some magnificently elegant salons (particularly the boardroom, where a seating plan on the wall lists Benjamin Franklin as the first incumbent of seat Number One). The architect, Thomas U. Walter, was also responsible for the dome and House and Senate wings of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. This is still an active business, but a small museum is open to the public by appointment.