East Pittsburgh Attractions

The Carnegie Museum houses extensive collections of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings, American and European paintings over the past two centuries, sculpture, decorative art and architecture (featuring models, drawings, casts and photos).

Real estate baron Henry Phipps donated the gardens to the city in 1893. Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens features a 13-room Victorian glasshouse as well as Japanese, perennial, aquatic and children's theme gardens. The Discovery Garden has butterfly and bird gardens, a color wheel garden and a sensory garden.

Founded in 1860, the world-renown Allegheny Observatory is owned and operated by the University of Pittsburgh as a private research facility. The surrounding Riverview Park offers picnicking and tennis.

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History is known for its dinosaur collection including a Tyrannosaurus Rex. There are also large exhibits on Ancient Egypt, geology, wildlife of Africa and North America and the Arctic.

The 2,000-seat hall hosts the Carnegie Performing Arts program jazz and classical music concerts, and is the home of the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society, the Mendelssohn Choir, the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh and the River City Brass Band.

The Cathedral of Learning is a 42-story Gothic stone tower with 23 classrooms that range in styles from Byzantine to Tudor. Each room pays tribute to the city's multicultural mix. Construction began in 1926 and was dedicated in 1937.

Modeled after ancient Israel and the River Jordan, the Rodef Shalom Biblical Botanical Garden displays more than 150 types of flora, each with a Biblical name or reference. Visitors can observe wheat, barley, millet, herbs, olives, dates, pomegranates, figs, and cedars that were grown by the ancient Israelites.

Schenley Park contains picnic areas, tennis courts, baseball diamonds, trails and in winter cross-country skiing and other sporting activities.

The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall honors the memory of veterans of all wars. Exhibits include Civil War artifacts, the Gulf War, black military history and film presentations.

Foster was a Pittsburgh native and composer of America's best-loved songs. The complex houses a library and museum of his life and music, and an auditorium that hosts Shakespearean productions and concerts.