Top 11 Attractions in Pittsburgh

Just think of taking a lovely stroll around a beautiful trail in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens come to mind. This site contains a series of beautifully decorated grounds and buildings that had its beginnings in 1893. The gardens were a gift from Henry Phipps to Pittsburg with the intent to provide formal gardens containing interesting and beautiful plants that are not native to this area. The conservatory houses the most elaborate gardens in the area and is beautifully constructed with intricate metalwork and glass but in a Victorian greenhouse style.

Take a look at some of the great attractions at the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, such as:

- A trip down the Amazon River is not a typical vision in central Pennsylvania, but this is exactly what guests will find in the Headwaters of the Amazon exhibit with some of the most exotic plants and facts about amazing cultures of the region ...

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One of the most well known artist and filmmaker in America was Andrew Warhol, and The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburg depicts his life, his work, and many of his exhibits. He was a child of immigrants from Slovakia in the late 1920s. The museum is part of a collaboration of the Dia Art Foundation and the Carnegie Institute along with the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. It's an 88,000 square foot facility and is designed with 17 galleries that feature over 8000 pieces of art and print that over nine million guests view each year.

While visiting The Andy Warhol Museum take a look at the various exhibitions, including:

- The exhibitions of art, sculptures, photographs, videos, and drawings are the greatest collection of the memorabilia of Andy Warhol ...

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For people traveling in Pennsylvania, one of the greatest museums that guests should visit is the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. It was built in 1895 and contains one of the most incredible collections of art, video, and film in North America, and it was Andrew Carnegie's dream of combination art gallery and library. Carnegie love art and particularly what he called the "Old Master if Tomorrow" which translates to the best new artist producing modern art.

There are many galleries and interesting things in the Carnegie Museum of Art, which include such areas as:

- The Hall of architecture that was built in 1907 is an incredibly unique collection of 140 life size plaster castings of buildings from Egypt, Rome, and ancient Greece as well as other primeval civilizations ...

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Andrew Carnegie dreamed about a collection of museums, and part of his dream came true with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History when it was built in 1895. This is the 115,000 square foot building that contains a fantastic library, 20 art galleries, and over 21 million artifacts and specimens with 10,000 exhibited at any specific time. Typically, this museum is visited by thousands of school groups and it's one of the top five museums of natural history in the country.

When visiting the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, in Pittsburg, be sure to see some of these incredible collections and galleries, including:

- The Dinosaur collection is one of the most popular exhibits that contain the largest collection of dinosaurs from the Jurassic period, and the third largest collection in the country ...

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Continuing the great dream of Andrew Carnegie is the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The center dates back to 1939 and is the most popular museum in the area. When it was integrated with the Carnegie Institute the new building was completed at a cost of $40 million.

There are so many excellent galleries and exhibits to see in the Carnegie Science Center, including the following:

- The largest model train in America is located and it's a fantastic reproduction of the Western Pennsylvania railroad system beginning in the 1890s, and it dates back to the early 1920s ...

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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is home to some of the best museums, and the Fort Pitt Museum is at the juncture of the Monongahela and Allegheny River at the head of the Ohio River. This is an historically significant area because allowed the troop to control the upper Ohio River Valley, which was particularly important during the American Revolution. Fort Pitt was built in 1758 by the British and it also played an important role during the Whiskey Rebellion. It's located at Point State Park and is a 12,000 square foot museum that is located in a two story building.

This Fort Pitt Museum is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institute and is the largest historical museum in Pennsylvania and it opened in 1969, recreating some of the unique history of the Western Pennsylvania area ...

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The Duquesne Incline is an amazing plane railroad located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that scales Mount Washington. The design was created by Samuel Discher and it is 800 feet long, 400 feet high, and it rises at a 300 degree angle. One of the most unique aspects of this incline is the odd five foot gauge railroad, and it was completed in 1877. Originally, this was powered by steam and used to foray cargo up and down the mountain in the late 1800s, but eventually it led to passengers being ferried up the mountain. By the late 1960s only two inclines up the mountain remained this one and the Monongahela.

Some of the most interesting things about the Duquesne Incline are the following:

- The Observation Deck at the top of the mountain provides a truly amazing panoramic view of the valley below; photographers will thoroughly enjoy photographing the scenery ...

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America's largest Aviary is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is known as the National Aviary. This aviary is home to more than 600 birds that are 200 different species, many of which are endangered, and it's considered to have the greatest assortment of any aviary in the country. Some of the rarest birds, such as the Blue Winged Mountain Tanager, Scarlet Headed Blackbird, Green Backed Trogon, Pompadour Cotuinga, and many more have found their home in this excellent facility.

Some of the areas that visitors to the National Aviary will find very popular include:

- One of the newest exhibits is Penguin Point, that is home to eleven African Penguins and it has a great tank that allows both underwater and above ground viewing ...

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One of the most interesting and educational places to take kiddos is the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. It opened in 1983 in the existing Allegheny Post Office and it has some outstanding programs for children of various ages. It was expanded in the early 2000 to incorporate with the Buhl Planetarium nearby. There are a variety of exceptional exhibits and programs that help children learn about various topics and they are interactive; allowing the children to create various projects in the assorted areas of the museum.

When guests discover this Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, they will return time and time again to see these various exhibits, including:

- The attic challenges the senses with the Gravity Room where everything is tilted at 25° creating an amazing sensation, the Phosphorescent Room which allows the kids to cast interesting shapes with the foam props, as well as the puppet show at the Animateering ...

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Another institution that is affiliated with the Smithsonian is the Heinz History Center located in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. It's name after Senator John Heinz who was a Republican serving from 1977 to 1991 as a U.S. Senator, and from 1971 to 1977 as a Congressman in the House of Representatives. He was killed in a plane crash in 1991 and the History Center named after him is a 275,000 square foot building that is homes to some excellent exhibits in its six floors.

There are a variety of compelling exhibits in the Heinz History Center, that include the following:

- One very interesting exhibit is Pittsburgh: A Tradition of Innovation that highlights the inventions and achievements of influential inventors of this area, including George Westinghouse, Jonas Salk, George Ferris, Andrew Carnegie, and Rosie the Riveter ...

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In a city full of museum, another excellent museum of modern art is The Mattress Factory Art Museum located in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. It boasts some unique galleries and has some truly amazing room-sized exhibits that were so large they had to be created at the museum because they were too large to be moved through the doorways. A variety of media is used in many of these exhibits that will delight and amaze all the senses, and it's operated since 1977.

There are some remarkable exhibits in The Mattress Factory Art Museum, such as the following:

- One of the gallery's exhibitions is the Queloides: Race and Racism in Cuban Contemporary Art that highlights the debate of racism in Cuba and around the world ...

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