Explore Phoenix

St. Mary's Basilica, the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, is the mother church of the Catholic diocese of Phoenix, in the centre of downtown. The parish dates from 1881; the present church, in Mission Revival style with twin bell towers, was completed in 1914, and its stained-glass windows were made in Munich. It became a minor basilica in 1985, and Pope John Paul II visited in 1987.

Arizona Science Center is a science museum in Heritage and Science Park in downtown Phoenix, founded in 1984 and housed since 1997 in a building by the architect Antoine Predock. Four levels hold hands-on exhibits on physics, the human body, flight and the Earth, with a planetarium, a five-storey giant-screen theatre and live science demonstrations.

Phoenix Art Museum, founded in 1959, stands on Central Avenue in midtown Phoenix, in a complex enlarged by the architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. Its collection of more than 20,000 works covers American and Western art, Asian, European and Latin American art, modern and contemporary art and fashion design, and includes the Thorne Miniature Rooms.

The Arizona State Capitol, completed in 1900 for the territorial government, stands at the west end of Washington Street in Phoenix. The building of tuff and granite, topped by a copper dome with a Winged Victory weathervane, now houses the Arizona Capitol Museum, with restored legislative chambers and exhibits on the state's history; modern office wings hold the legislature.

The Heard Museum, on Central Avenue in Phoenix, was founded in 1929 by Dwight and Maie Heard to show their collection of Native American art. In a Spanish Colonial Revival building around courtyards, its galleries present the art and cultures of American Indian peoples, especially of the Southwest, including hundreds of Hopi katsina dolls and an exhibition on Indian boarding schools.