Franklin National Memorial - Philadelphia, PA
N 39° 57.486 W 075° 10.346
18S E 485272 N 4423120
This is the most famous statue of Benjamin Franklin in the world. It is located in the rotunda of the Benjamin Franklin Institute. As soon as you enter, walk forward and you will see it immediately.
Waymark Code: WM6VM0
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 07/24/2009
Views: 10
"The Benjamin Franklin National Memorial is located in the rotunda of The Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dedicated by Congress in 1976, Memorial Hall features a 20 foot high marble statue of Ben. Sculpted by James Earle Fraser, the statue weighs 30 tons and sits on a 92-ton pedestal of white Seravezza marble. Originally opened in 1938, Memorial Hall was designed by architect John T. Windrim and modeled after the Pantheon in Rome. The Hall is 82 feet in length, width, and height. The domed ceiling is self-supporting and weighs 1600 tons. The floors, walls, columns, pilasters, and cornices are made of rare marbles from Portugal, Italy and France."
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When I just visited, there was a time when they closed the dome over the rotunda and shined down various color lights on the statue and had a projector showing quotations all over the walls of the rotunda attributable to Franklin. It was really something to see.
"Benjamin Franklin National Memorial, located in the rotunda of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, features a colossal seated statue of Benjamin Franklin. The 20 foot (6 m) high memorial, sculpted by James Earle Fraser between 1906 and 1911, honors the writer, inventor and American statesman. The statue weighs 30 tons (27,000 kg) and sits on a 92-ton (83,000 kg) pedestal of white Seravezza marble. The statue is the focal piece of the memorial hall, designed by John T. Windrim after the Pantheon, dedicated in 1938."
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