America’s First World Heritage City

Philadelphia: The Cradle of Liberty

Philadelphia is where the American Dream was founded. It’s where courageous visionaries crafted the model for modern-day democracy that inspires people globally to embrace the power of their individuality and our human potential.

Philadelphia is home to iconic locations and artifacts that tell the story of America’s birth in a way no other place can match.

Within one square mile, visitors will find all of the below and more:

• Independence Hall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that changed the world when the fathers of our nation used the location to debate and adopt both the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution.

• The Liberty Bell, a symbol of freedom that predates our nation’s birth. Legend holds it sustained its trademark crack when it was rung to announce the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

• The Museum of the American Revolution explores the dynamic story of the American Revolution using its rich collection of Revolutionary-era artifacts, personal items, letters, diaries and works of art.

• The President’s House, where both George Washington and John Adams spent most of their presidencies before the White House was built in Washington, D.C.

• National Museum of American Jewish History, the only major national museum dedicated to telling the story of the Jewish people in America from 1654 to present.  Leonard Bernstein: The Power of Music is the first large-scale museum exhibition to illustrate Leonard Bernstein’s life, Jewish identity, and social activism, on display at NMAJH through September 2, 2018.

• African American Museum in Philadelphia, where visitors can explore the history and stories of African-American people and those of the African Diaspora. The exhibit Audacious Freedom: African Americans in Philadelphia 1776 – 1876 recounts the stories of and contributions made by people of African descent in Philadelphia during the tumultuous years following the founding of our nation. Also on display, Black Pulp! an unprecedented overview of over a century (1912–2016) of image production by Black artists and publishers, and non-Black artists and publishers who foreground the Black experience, through April 29, 2018. 

• The National Constitution Center, an interactive museum dedicated to the document on which our nation was founded, and the impact different interpretations of the document have had on the nation and world since it was adopted in 1789.  Hamilton: The Constitutional Clashes That Shaped a Nation an exhibit that explores Alexander Hamilton’s fraught relationships with James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Aaron Burr, provides an intimate look into the founding father’s enduring role in the constitutional and political arguments that continue to create sparks to this day, through December 31, 2018.

• Carpenter’s Hall, the meeting place of the First Continental Congress in 1774. The seeds of the American Revolution were planted here when delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies agreed to boycott British imports.

• Benjamin Franklin Museum and Franklin Court, the Philadelphia home of statesman, author, printer, inventor, postmaster, activist and more. The building also is the nation’s first post office.

• The American Philosophical Society Museum is the oldest learned society in the United States, founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin for the purpose of “promoting useful knowledge.”  See exhibitions drawn from the Society’s renowned collections that trace American history and science from the Founding Fathers to the digital age.  In Franklin’s Footsteps: 275 Years at the American Philosophical Society will be on display through December 30, 2018.

The Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB) is the official tourism promotion agency for the City of Philadelphia globally and the primary sales and marketing agency for the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Updated March 27, 2018