Rocky Steps (Philadelphia Museum of Art)

The Rocky Steps are 72 stone steps leading up to the east entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Pennsylvania. They became world famous in the 1976 film Rocky, in which a boxer called Rocky Balboa trains for a big fight by running up them.

Today, the steps are one of the most popular photo spots in Philadelphia. Visitors from around the world jog to the top, raise their arms in victory and take a picture, copying the hero of the movie. From the top you can see Eakins Oval, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and Philadelphia City Hall. Many people see the climb as a symbol of an underdog taking on a big challenge.

How the scene was filmed

Sylvester Stallone, who wrote and starred in Rocky, has said the film crew found the steps one night while searching for places to film on a small budget. He first planned for Rocky to carry his big dog up the stairs, but the dog was too heavy. The view from the top inspired him to film the scene without the dog. The scene was also one of the first in a major film to use a Steadicam, a stabilised camera that lets the cameraperson climb stairs and still film smoothly.

The steps and the statue

The 72 steps come in six groups: the top group has seven steps and each of the lower five has thirteen. Before the film Rocky III came out in 1982, Stallone paid for a ten-foot bronze statue of Rocky, which became a popular photo stop. The statue has been moved several times, and the steps themselves have become a symbol of an underdog taking on a great challenge.

On the globe

The model shows the wide stone staircase leading to the museum. The card mentions a bronze Rocky statue near the steps.