A near-constant flow of people arrive daily at the bottom of the stairs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to snap a picture with the Rocky statue, originally created for a scene in Rocky III and now a real-life monument to a celluloid hero who endures as a favorite fictional son of the City of Brotherly Love.

Visitors then often hustle up the museum’s grand stairway to try their hand at the famous two-arms-raised salute — all while soaking up picture-perfect views of the Philadelphia skyline.

The Robert Indiana sculpture in John F. Kennedy Plaza (or LOVE Park, as it’s affectionately called by most) is a prized photo op for couples, families, and friends eager to show the world how they feel about one another. The sculpture was restored and repainted in 2018, and the park was entirely redesigned to add more green areas and a high-tech water feature. A small visitor center kiosk was added in 2021. Another LOVE statue sits just west of Center City on the University of Pennsylvania campus near 36th and Locust streets. And because love comes in all languages in Philadelphia, there’s an AMOR sculpture — a Spanish edition of the LOVE sculpture — on display at Sister Cities Park, a six-minute walk from LOVE Park.

Seven distinctly ornate meeting halls transport tour-goers to different countries (Egypt, Greece) in different eras through a series of stunning architectural feats and decorative embellishments.

As you traverse from one ornate hall to another — footsteps echoing throughout the tiled, portrait-lined corridors — it’s easy to forget that you’re in the center of one of the nation’s most populous cities.

Located across the northeast corner from City Hall, the cathedral-like stone towers of the temple rise high above the city streets, much like many of the city’s historic churches.

Inside, however, is not a house of worship but rather the 150-year-old meeting place for The Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania — a centuries-old fraternal society for men of “good moral character.” (More on all that a little later).

You don’t have to be a member of any club or an expert in architecture to appreciate the sheer beauty of this intricate building, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2023.