The US State Capitol and the Library of Congress

Today we explored two exceedingly ornate buildings: the US Capitol and the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress.

On the way, we walked past Union Station - again, big and ornate.

The Capitol first: words do not describe it.

A few facts about it: it has hosted Congress since 1800 and has grown as the nation has grown.  There are 100 members in the Senate (2 for each state) and 435 members in the House of Representatives (numbers for each state are proportional to their population).  There are 6 additional buildings near the Capitol hosting the offices of the Senate and the House as there is not enough space in the Capitol itself.  The Statue of Freedom on the top of the dome is 19.5 feet tall and weighs about 13,000 pounds.

The plaster model was made and shipped from Italy, and the bronze cast was made in the US.  I saw the Statue when it was taken down off the dome for repairs in 1993 - since then, any repairs and cleaning have been done in situ.  Each state has been able to gift two statues (either bronze or marble) to the Capital - the person must be dead and have done something monumental for that State.  The States are now able to change their statues, but only 7 have done so to date.  Some of the statues include Helen Keller (Alabama), John L. Swigert, Jr, an Apollo 13 crew member (Colorado), Junipero Serra (California), Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Sojourner Truth (an African American female abolitionist and women's rights activist), ....  In addition, there are a number of statues that have been gifted by the people (e.g. Rosa Parks) or by individuals.

Pita with Helen Keller as a 7 yr old child when she learned to sign water at the waterpump

Junipero Serra

The Rotunda hosts state funerals, and rises 180 feet to a mural, The Apotheosis of Washington, painted by Constantinople Brumidi.  He also painted the frieze which goes around the entire Rotunda and depicts scenes from the history of the US, from the landing by Columbus to the evolution of flight by the Wright Brothers.

We also saw items such as the table used at Abraham Lincoln's second inauguration (made from surplus ironwork cast for the Dome), the gavel used by George Washington during the ceremony to lay the cornerstone of the Capitol in 1793, the catafalque (the support used for the caskets of Presidents and other eminent citizens during lying-in state ceremonies), and the Slave Labour Commemorative Marker which acknowledges the role played by enslaved African Americans in the construction of the Capitol.

The columns supporting the weight of the dome above

The centre of the Capitol - this was designed to be the tomb for Lincoln - but his will stated he wanted to be buried at his home of Mt Vernon, so the crypt below remains empty

Corn at the top of the columns

We had lunch at the cafe, then walked through the tunnel to the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress.  Again, opulent. Tiled floors, painted murals and ceilings, marble staircases, the Jefferson Library Book Collection, one of only three copies of a Gutenberg Bible printed on vellum (animal skin), and the impressive Main Reading Lounge. The dome there soars 160 feet above the floor, and there are murals, windows, columns, statues representing countries, cultures and eras that contributed to the development of Western civilisation (as known in 1897 when the building was opened).  The Library of Congress is the world's largest library, with more than 164 million items on 838 miles of bookshelves.  There are 470 languages represented in the collection, 14 million photos, 5.5 million maps, 8.1 million pieces of sheet music, 70 million manuscripts, more than 38 million books and other print material.

Karl and Robin were fascinated by the automated dirty dishes system

Recognise the Main Reading Lounge from the movie "National Treasure 2"?

Statues of Shakespeare and Homer and the Poetry column

 By then, it was 5pm, so we wandered around the Capitol Gardens, saw the Capitol Reflecting Pool, and Grant's Memorial, before heading back to our apartment for dinner and relaxation.

Capitol Summerhouse