On my way to my meeting from the Pennsylvania Avenue NW, I spot the United States Capitol building, that prompts me to take a short 5-minute detour to take a quick look...
Viewing the "Grand Lady of American Democracy" from the First Street SW...
The fascinating Capitol Building, is the home of the United States Congress, and is the seat of the legislative branch of the federal government. The magnificent white building sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall.
The building was completed in 1800 and was subsequently expanded, particularly with the addition of the massive dome and expanded chambers for the two houses, the House of Representatives in the south wing and the Senate in the north wing.
The Capitol is being prepped up for swearing in of the new president who will be elected in the next few days. And that's probably why hotels in DC are either fully booked or are exorbitantly priced - the upcoming elections have brought in the press, politicians, lobbyists and all kinds of people associated with elections...
I was quite fascinated by glistening dome. The dome is 88 metres in height and 29 metres in diameter. The dome was a subsequent addition and was designed by Thomas U. Walter, the fourth Architect of the Capitol. Constructed between 1855 and 1866, the dome was constructed at a cost of USD 1.05 million (equivalent to USD 232 million considering 2015 price levels)...
And this was really surprising - the dome is not stone, but cast iron carefully painted to appear to be made of the same stone as the main capitol building. And another surprise - this is actually two domes, one inside the other, with a total weight of 6,400 tonnes...
The dome is crowned by a statue - the Statue of Freedom made of bronze. The statue had been installed here in 1863...
And now I got to rush - I have exactly 18 minutes to make to my meeting, a short 10 minutes away!
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