Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Overview
 
Benjamin Franklin Parkway is a scenic boulevard that runs through the cultural heart of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

. Named for favorite son Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

, the mile-long Parkway cuts diagonally across the grid plan
Grid plan
The grid plan, grid street plan or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid...

 pattern of Center City's Northwest quadrant. It starts at Philadelphia City Hall
Philadelphia City Hall
Philadelphia City Hall is the house of government for the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At , including the statue, it is the world's second-tallest masonry building, only shorter than Mole Antonelliana in Turin...

, curves around Logan Circle
Logan Circle (Philadelphia)
Logan Circle, also known as Logan Square, is an open-space park in Center City Philadelphia's northwest quadrant and one of the five original planned squares laid out on the city grid. The circle itself exists within the original bounds of the square; the names Logan Square and Logan Circle are...

, and ends before the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...

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The Parkway is the spine of Philadelphia's Museum District. Some of the city's most famous sights are here: Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul
Cathedral-Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul
The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, head church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is located at 18th Street & the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on the east side of Logan Square in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the largest Catholic church in Pennsylvania and listed on...

, Swann Memorial Fountain
Swann Memorial Fountain
The Swann Memorial Fountain is a fountain sculpture located in the center of Logan Circle in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States....

, the Free Library of Philadelphia
Free Library of Philadelphia
The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-History:History of the Free Library of Philadelphia: Initiated by the efforts of Dr...

, the Franklin Institute
Franklin Institute
The Franklin Institute is a museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the oldest centers of science education and development in the United States, dating to 1824. The Institute also houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial.-History:On February 5, 1824, Samuel Vaughn Merrick and...

, Moore College of Art and Design
Moore College of Art and Design
Moore College of Art & Design educates students for careers in the visual arts. Moore is an independent college of art and design. Located in the heart of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Moore is the first and only women's visual arts college in the nation, and one of only two in the world...

, the Academy of Natural Sciences
Academy of Natural Sciences
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the New World...

, the Rodin Museum
Rodin Museum
The Rodin Museum is a museum located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which contains the largest collection of sculptor Auguste Rodin's works outside Paris.-Founding:...

, Eakins Oval
Eakins Oval
At the end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, just in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is Eakins Oval. The loop of road is usually host to a large volume of traffic as it connects the core of the city with Fairmount Park, Kelly Drive , and Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive...

, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...

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