Dictionary: capitol   (kăp'ĭ-tl)

1. A building or complex of buildings in which a state legislature meets.
2. Capitol The building in Washington, D.C., where the Congress of the United States meets. See Usage Note at capital¹.

[Middle English Capitol, Jupiter's temple in Rome, from Old French capitole, from Latin Capitōlium, after Capitōlīnus, Capitoline, the hill on which Jupiter's temple stoodperhaps akin to caput, capit-, head. See capital¹.]

For more information on United States Capitol, visit Britannica.com.

Official meeting place for a legislative body.

The most widely recognized symbol of American democracy, the U.S. Capitol building houses the Congress. The Capitol contains more than 500 rooms in addition to the massive House and Senate chambers. Outside, in the shadow of its magnificent dome, Presidents of The United States take their inaugural oath, and they return to the Capitol to deliver their annual State of the Union message. State funerals and other ceremonies take place within the Rotunda, and foreign leaders frequently visit the Capitol to address joint sessions of Congress.

Expansion of the Capitol

The Capitol expanded along with the nation. President George Washington selected the original building design by Dr William Thornton, and Washington laid the cornerstone in 1793. When Congress arrived in November 1800, only the Senate wing of the Capitol was completed. Within this small, boxlike structure operated the Senate, House, Supreme Court, and Library of Congress. When the House wing opened in 1810, a wooden walkway connected the two structures. This was how the building looked in August 1814, when British troops invaded Washington. Piling up furniture and books, the British set fire to the Capitol and destroyed its interior. A heavy rain saved the exterior walls. Congress reconvened in the restored Capitol in 1819, and the oldest desks in the current Senate chamber date back to that year. Congress also purchased Thomas Jefferson's private library to replace the Library of Congress volumes consumed in the flames.

In the 1820s, construction of the central Rotunda, topped by a low copper dome, completed the original plans for the building. But the constant addition of new states—which resulted in more members of Congress—caused the Senate and House to outgrow their chambers. Massive wings were added to the north and south ends of the Capitol. The House moved into its new chamber in 1857 and the Senate in 1859. The Architect of the Capitol proposed that a higher cast-iron dome would better fit the newly enlarged building. Outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 temporarily halted work on this dome, but President Lincoln urged its completion as a symbol of the Union. In December 1863 the dome was completed and capped with a bronze statue of Freedom. The top of the statue reaches 287 feet and 5 inches above the base of the Capitol's EastFront.

Beginning in 1874, Frederick Law Olmsted (designer of New York's Central Park) oversaw the landscaping and constructed terraces along the West Front to give the Capitol grounds a more formal appearance and add new office space. The West Front is the only portion of the original sandstone exterior still visible from outside the Capitol. The East Front was extended out some 30 feet and rebuilt in marble during renovation in 1958

A colorful interior

In contrast to its austere white exterior, the Capitol's interior is colorfully decorated. Much of this embellishment was the work of the Italian painter Constantino Brumidi, known as the “Michelangelo of the Capitol.” Trained in the art of fresco (the technique of applying paint to wet plaster so that it retains its colors), Brumidi began his work in the 1850s. In 1865 he painted a huge fresco under the dome, 180 feet above the Rotunda floor, depicting the “Apotheosis [glorification] of George Washington.” Brumidi devoted the rest of his life to painting halls and committee rooms on the Senate side of the Capitol. He died in 1880 after falling from the scaffold while painting the frieze that rings the inside of the Rotunda. The House had declined Brumidi's services, but a century later, during the 1970s, artist Allyn Cox enlivened the House corridors with similar historical scenes.

Enormous paintings of historical events decorate the public areas of the Capitol, and the corridors are lined with marble and bronze statues. In 1864 the House declared its old chamber to be National Statuary Hall and invited each state to send statues of two of its most illustrious citizens. Additional statues and busts honor many Presidents, Vice Presidents, foreign dignitaries, American Indian chiefs, and national heroes.

Congressional office buildings

Because of limited working space within the Capitol, the House and Senate have had additional office building, constructed. In 1908, the House occupied its first permanent office building, now known as the Cannon building, and the Senate moved into the matching Richard Brevard Russell building the following year. Linked to the Capitol by underground tunnels and subways, these office buildings provide offices for committees, members, and their staffs. As its staff grew, the House built two additional office buildings, the Longworth (1933) and Rayburn (1965) buildings, and the Senate added the Everett McKinley Dirksen (1958) and Philip A. Hart (1982) buildings.

The Library of Congress operated out of the Capitol until 1897, when it transported its growing collection to a separate building across the street. Similarly, the Supreme Court met within the Capitol until 1935, when its own building was constructed. Today, the complex of massive structures surrounding the Capitol represents functions that once all took place within the small sandstone building that greeted Congress in 1800.

The U.S. Capitol remains the most open of federal buildings. Visitors on guided tours, senators, representatives, journalists, lobbyists, staff, and constituents all mingle in its corridors. The galleries stay open to the public whenever the Senate and House convene, except for those rare closed sessions dealing with highly classified information. Flags flying above the chambers indicate which house is meeting, and at night a beacon high up in the Capitol dome signifies that a night session of the Senate or House is in progress.

See also Architect of the Capitol; Library of Congress

Sources

• Lonnelle M. Aikman, We, the People: The Story of the United States Capitol, Its Past and Its Promise (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Capitol Historical Society, 1991).
• Glenn Brown, History of the United States Capitol, 2 vols. (1903; reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1970)

The large domed building in Washington, D.C., in which the United States Congress meets.

Tutor's tip: It is "capital" (first rate, most important) that you had the "capital" (money invested in a business) to landscape around both the "capitol" (building in which the state legislature meets) and the "Capitol" (building in which the United States Congress m

Not to be confused with Capital.

Look up capitol in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Capitol may refer to:

• A set of buildings in which a legislature meets, including:
  • Capitoline Hill in Rome (from which the word capitol derives)
  • United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.; see also, List of state capitols in the United States
  • Capitol of Puerto Rico in San Juan
  • Capitole de Toulouse in Toulouse, France
  • Capitolio Nacional in Colombia
  • Capitolio Federal in Venezuela
  • El Capitolio in Havana, Cuba
• Capitol (board game), a Roman-themed board game
• Capitol (TV series), a U.S. soap opera
• Capitol Air Lines, a U.S. charter airline in the 1970s and 1980s
• Capitol Corridor, an Amtrak railroad corridor
• Capitol Records, a U.S. record label
• Capitol, a megacorporation in Mutant Chronicles
• The Capitols, a soul band

See also

• Capitol Hill (disambiguation), a number of districts in the United States and Canada
• Capitol Cinema/Theatre, a number of former and current cinemas or theatres located throughout the world
• Capital (disambiguation)

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - parlamentsbygning

Nederlands (Dutch)
capitool, parlementsgebouw

Français (French)
n. - (US, Admin) le Capitole

Deutsch (German)
n. - Kapitol, Kongreßgebäude

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - το Καπιτώλιο

Italiano (Italian)
campidoglio

Português (Portuguese)
n. - sede (f) de assembléia legislativa, Capitólio (m)

Русский (Russian)
Капитолий, здание законодательного собрания штата

Español (Spanish)
n. - Capitolio

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - folkrepresentationens hus (i am. delstater)

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
国会大厦, 主神殿, 州议会大厦

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 國會大廈, 主神殿, 州議會大廈

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 로마 신전, 국회의사당

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 連邦議会議事堂, 州会議事堂, カピトル神殿, 国会議事堂

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) مقر مجلس النواب و مجلس الشيوخ في أمريكا‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮בניין הקונגרס האמריקאי בוושינגטון, הקפיטול‬

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