Rocky Steps

In the scene, Rocky Balboa, an unpolished but ambitious boxer from South Philadelphia played by Sylvester Stallone, begins intense physical training after deciding to fight Apollo Creed, the World Heavyweight Champion.

[1][2] Tourists often mimic Rocky's famous climb, which has become a physical metaphor for an underdog rising to a great challenge.

The top of the steps offers a commanding view of Eakins Oval, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and Philadelphia City Hall.

Stallone first thought Rocky should carry his dog Butkus up the steps, but the big bull mastiff proved too heavy for the scene to work.

In 2006, Schomberg realized the casting mold for the statue was beginning to decay, and the third and final edition of the statue was cast in bronze and put up for auction on eBay three separate times between 2002 and 2005, with a starting bid of US$5,000,000, then US$3,000,000, and finally US$1,000,000 to raise funds for the International Institute for Sport and Olympic History.

At the ceremony, Philadelphia Mayor John Street said that the steps were one of Philly's biggest tourist attractions, and that Stallone, a native New Yorker, had become "the city's favorite adopted son".

[12] During the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay, Philadelphia native Dawn Staley was chosen to run up the museum steps.

[14] The Rocky steps has been the subject of pregame dress-up by fans right before their NFL team plays the Philadelphia Eagles.