MEXICO CITY.- The Capitol, the center of operations of the United States and home to both houses of Congress, is one of the main attractions in Washington DC.
Although it cannot be visited, you will surely be interested in knowing 10 facts about this emblematic place for the United States.
- Built after Thomas Jefferson held a design competition to highlight America’s best architects, the winner would receive $ 500 USD.
- The first president of the United States, George Washington, laid the first stone on September 18, 1793 during a grand ceremony.
- Since 1909 it has had an interior subway and is in charge of taking the politicians of the building between the offices of the House of Representatives and the Senate to the Capitol.
- After Washington’s death, it was planned to bury him in the area called Crypt, located underneath the building, but in the president’s will he specified to be buried at Mount Vernon.
- In 1899 a law was passed specifying that no building higher than the Capitol could exist. This law was abolished in 1910 and allowed the construction of the Washington Monument, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and the Washington National Cathedral.
- The Capitol is the only one with level ground for proper entrance, so the Capitol and its statue face east, toward people entering. So it is thought to be a construction “backwards”.
- The Capitol has architects who oversee the maintenance, operation, and preservation of all land in the area.
- In 1812 it was on the verge of burning during the Anglo-American War, but a storm put out the flames, the most significant damage suffered by the Library of Congress.
- In the 1850s, almost 57 years after its construction began, the Capitol received its famous dome.
- The new dome took 11 years to build and Abraham Lincoln took the oath under it.
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