The Capitol

Frommer's Review

The Capitol is as majestic up close as it is from afar. For 135 years it sheltered not only both houses of Congress, but also the Supreme Court and, for 97 years, the Library of Congress as well. When you tour the Capitol, you'll learn about America's history as you admire the place in which it unfolded. Classical architecture, interior embellishments, and hundreds of paintings, sculptures, and other artworks are integral elements of the Capitol. The 30-minute tour takes you to the Crypt, the Rotunda, and National Statuary Hall. (For an in-depth description and information about the history and art of the Capitol, go to www.aoc.gov and click on the link "Visiting the Capitol.")

On the massive bronze doors leading to the Rotunda are portrayals of events in the life of Columbus. The Rotunda -- a huge 96-foot-wide circular hall capped by a 180-foot-high dome -- is the hub of the Capitol. The dome was completed, at Lincoln's direction, while the Civil War was being fought. Ten presidents have lain in state here, with former President Ronald Reagan being the most recent; when Kennedy's casket was displayed, the line of mourners stretched 40 blocks. On rare occasions, someone other than a president, military hero, or member of Congress receives this posthumous recognition. In October 2005, Congress paid tribute to Rosa Parks by allowing her body to lie in state here, the first woman to be so honored. (Parks was the black woman who in 1955 refused to relinquish her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus, thereby sparking a civil rights movement.)

Embracing the Rotunda walls are eight immense oil paintings commemorating great moments in American history, such as the presentation of the Declaration of Independence and the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. In the dome is an allegorical fresco masterpiece by Constantino Brumidi, Apotheosis of Washington, a symbolic portrayal of George Washington surrounded by Roman gods and goddesses watching over the progress of the nation. Brumidi was known as the "Michelangelo of the Capitol" for the many works he created throughout the building. (Take another look at the dome and find the woman directly below Washington; the triumphant Armed Freedom figure is said to be modeled after Lola Germon, a beautiful young actress with whom the 60-year-old Brumidi conceived a child.) Beneath the dome is a trompe l'oeil frieze depicting major developments in the life of America, from Columbus's landing in 1492 to the birth of the aviation age in 1903. Don't miss the sculptures in the Rotunda: a pensive Abraham Lincoln, a dignified Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and a ponderous trinity of suffragists Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucretia Mott -- these and others are represented here.

The National Statuary Hall was originally the chamber of the House of Representatives. In 1864, it became Statuary Hall, and the states were invited to send two statues each of native sons and daughters to the hall. There are 100 statues in all, New Mexico completing the collection with its contribution in 2005 of Po'Pay, a Pueblo Indian, who in 1680 led a revolt against the Spanish that helped to save Pueblo culture. (Stay tuned: The District of Columbia hopes to honor two of its own homegrown heroes with statues, despite the fact that Congress refuses to recognize D.C. as a state.) Because of space constraints, only 38 statues reside in the Hall, with the remaining scattered throughout the corridors of the Capitol. Statues include Ethan Allen, the Revolutionary War hero who founded the state of Vermont, and Missouri's Thomas Hart Benton, not the 20th-century artist famous for his rambunctious murals, but his namesake and uncle, who was one of the first two senators from Missouri and whose antislavery stance in 1850 cost him his Senate seat. Eight women are represented, including Montana's Jeannette Rankin, the first woman to serve in Congress.

The Crypt of the Capitol lies directly below the Rotunda and is used mainly as an exhibit space.

Following the tour, you are allowed to linger on the first floor, and to wander past the Old Supreme Court Chamber, which has been restored to its mid-19th-century appearance. The Supreme Court met here from 1810 to 1860; busts of the first four chief justices are on display -- John Marshall, John Rutledge, John Jay, and Oliver Ellsworth -- and so are some of their desks, believed to have been purchased in the 1830s. The justices handed down a number of noteworthy decisions here, including that of Dred Scott v. Sandford, which denied the citizenship of blacks, whether slaves or free, and in so doing precipitated the nation's Civil War.

You will not see them on your tour, but the south and north wings of the Capitol hold the House and Senate chambers, respectively. The House of Representatives chamber is the largest legislative chamber in the world, and the setting for the president's annual State of the Union addresses. (See the information below about watching Senate and House activity.)

Procedures for Touring the Capitol: All tours of the Capitol are guided, led by a Capitol Guide Service guide. You'll need to obtain a pass to go on the tour, which is free and lasts about 30 minutes. The Capitol has quite a list of items it prohibits, and the recording that you listen to on the tel. 202/225-6827 number recites them for you, everything from large bags of any kind to food and drink. Leave everything possible back at the hotel.

You have two options: If you are part of a group of no more than 40, you may arrange a tour in advance by contacting your congressional office at least 1 month ahead, and following the procedures that office outlines for you. If you are on your own, or with family or friends, get to the Capitol early (by 7:30am during the cherry-blossom season and spring break) to stand in line for one of a limited number of timed tickets the Capitol distributes daily, starting at 9am. Head to the ticket kiosk at the southwest corner of the Capitol grounds, near the intersection of 1st Street and Independence Avenue SW, across 1st Street from the U.S. Botanic Garden (Metro: Federal Center Southwest, on the Blue and Orange lines). Tickets are first come, first served. Each person gets only one ticket (so no sending dad to get tickets for the whole family) and every person, including children of any age, must have a ticket. Once you receive your ticket, you're free to wander or get a snack while you wait for your turn to tour the Capitol. Again, call the recorded information line (tel. 202/225-6827) on the morning of your visit to confirm exactly where and how to obtain your ticket.

Procedures for Visiting the House Gallery or Senate Gallery: Try to visit when both the Senate and House are in session. In fact, the Senate Gallery is open to visitors only when it is in session, but the House Gallery is open to visitors whether or not it is in session. (Children under 6 are not allowed in the Senate gallery.) You must have a separate pass, one for each gallery. Once obtained, the passes are good through the remainder of the Congress. You can obtain visitor passes in advance by contacting the offices of your representative and senator and requesting that they mail a House pass and a Senate gallery pass (Capitol switchboard is tel. 202/224-3121). District of Columbia and Puerto Rico residents should contact their delegate to Congress.

If you don't receive advance passes, you'll have to pick them up yourself at your members' offices. If you've obtained your tour-of-the-Capitol pass and have some time to kill, this works out perfectly: Off to the side of the ticket kiosk is a directory that tells you the office locations for your senator and representative. Since Congressional representatives and delegates have offices on the south side, or Independence Avenue side, of the Capitol, and since the ticket kiosk is quite near Independence Avenue, it makes sense for you to drop in on your representative's or delegate's office, rather than visit your senator. As a courtesy, your representative's office should give you passes to both the Senate and House galleries. (Note: International visitors can obtain both House and Senate gallery passes by presenting a passport or a valid driver's license with photo ID to the Capitol Guide Service staff in the House of Representative's Gallery line, in the Capitol's South Screening Facility.)

Passes in hand, this is what you do: To visit the Senate gallery, go to the public door on the north side, or the Constitution Avenue side of the Capitol; you'll have to pass through security clearance, but here, at least, the Capitol does allow you to check certain items, like cameras.

A visit to the House chamber tends to take more time -- as much as 2 hours sometimes. You pass through security clearance (again, you should be able to check certain items) in the same area as those who are going on the guided tours, that is, up the path to the public entrance to the Capitol on the Independence Avenue side of the building. Instead of proceeding directly to the gallery, however, you (usually) are handed a secondary pass and sent back out through a separate door to wait outside until the crowds thin inside enough for you to reenter and walk through the halls to the House chamber. This convoluted procedure is more about traffic flow than security: You're visiting Congress, after all, where your representatives are trying to work hard on your behalf.

Confused? Unsure about where to go, or what to do? Just look around: Capitol Hill policemen are everywhere and happy to point you in the right direction.

You'll know that the House and/or the Senate is in session if you see flags flying over their respective wings of the Capitol (remember: House, south side; Senate, north side), or you can check the weekday "Today in Congress" column in the Washington Post for details on times of the House and Senate sessions and committee hearings. This column also tells you which sessions are open to the public. Or access the Capitol's website, www.aoc.gov, which helpfully provides information about the history, art, and construction of the Capitol building; an in-depth education on the legislative process; schedules of bill debates in the House and Senate, committee markups, and meetings; and lots of other good stuff. The aoc.gov page has links to the individual Senate (www.senate.gov) and House (www.house.gov) pages, or you can go directly to those sites to connect to your senate or house representative's page.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

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