City Center, Philadelphia

Philadelphia's City Hall is the nation's largest and its Gothic tower offers a 30-mile panoramic view of the city. Construction began in 1871 and was completed thirty years later in 1901. The architectural style is know as French Second-Empire.

The church was organized in 1862 as the Arch Street Methodist Episcopal Church. It is an example of late 19th century Gothic revival architecture.Arch Street helped start several other churches, began live radio broadcasts of its services in 1924, was probably the first church to fully integrate its membership in the city, opened its doors to participation by Roman Catholic leaders in the 1960s, sponsored numerous initiatives to attack the problem of homelessness, and started ministries for Native Americans and AIDS Awareness activities.

Northwest of City Hall is the Penn Center, a complex of hotels and high-rise office blocks, including the Central Penn National Bank and the IBM Building. Previously there was a tacit agreement that no buildings in this area should be higher than the statue of William Penn (550ft/168ft), but in recent years a whole series of skyscrapers have been built. Among them are One Liberty Place, at 1650 Market Street, the city's tallest building (945ft/288m), Two Liberty Place (1601 Chestnut Street; 845m/258m) and the Mellon Bank Center (1735 Market Street; 880ft/268m).

Liberty Place was the first city building to surpass the 491-foot William Penn statue atop City Hall. The shorter tower at Two Liberty Place, was added in 1992 with a more modest design. The shape of the spire is similar to that of the Chrysler Building which has rounded setbacks.Over 60 shops and restaurants are available at Liberty Place.

Founded in 1976, The African-American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) has exhibits on all facets of African-American culture: politics, religion, family life, Civil Rights movement, arts and entertainment, sports, medicine, architecture, law, and technology.

Philadelphia's Masonic Temple houses the Masonic Library and Temple of Pennsylvania with collections of Masonic treasures and books. This fraternal order has its own religious beliefs and values system, complete with handshake, code words, and other secret information.

Though not as large as New York's or San Francisco's, Philadelphia's Chinatown is notable for its Chinese Friendship Gate at North 10th Street (at Arch Street) and for its affordable array of Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and vegetarian dining.

Opened in 1993, the Pennsylvania Convention Center (PCC) is doubling its exhibit space to 1 million sq. ft. at a total cost of $522 million. The 1,200-room Marriott Hotel is part of this vast complex that hosts special events.

The Reading Terminal Market is a food emporium offering 80 merchants and a wide array of foods to eat, from chitlins to cheesesteaks. A highlight is a Pennsylvania Dutch meal fresh from the local farms.

Rittenhouse Square, one of William Penn's original five open-space parks, was re-named for the astronomer-clockmaker, David Rittenhouse (1732-96) in 1825. Surroundings include lavish apartment buildings and a collection of statues.