Must See…
Capitol
Three years after Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton decided that Washington should house the nation's capital in 1790, construction began on the grand Capitol that was to grace the hill east of the Potomac. By the turn of the century, the movers, shakers and lawmakers began to move in. The British nearly burned it to the ground in 1814, which demoralized the Americans almost enough to provoke the abandonment of the whole DC experiment. However, some last-minute resolve saw the Capitol rebuilt from 1817 to 1819. The House and Senate wings were added in 1857, the nine-million-pound iron dome in 1863 and the east face in the 1950s, making the current icon over twice as large as the original building. The Capitol is the epicenter of the city as well as being its most prominent landmark; Washington's major avenues intersect at an imaginary point under the dome. If you want to watch Congress in session, you'll have to get a pass for the visitors' gallery from your Congressional Representative (if you have one) or the Sergeant-at-Arms (if you don't).
The dramatic Capitol Rotunda is decorated with a fresco painted by Italian immigrant Constantino Brumidi. Called The Apotheosis of Washington, it shows George Washington being welcomed into heaven by 13 angels representing the original 13 states (and apparently modelled on 13 local prostitutes). The hallways are decorated with more murals, showing the nation's heroes and their deeds - the most recent is a portrait of the dead Challenger astronauts. Statuary Hall is filled with stone men - theoretically two distinguished citizens from each state, but in principal a few less than that, as the floor wasn't strong enough to bear the weight of so much marble.
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US Capitol Building from the Mall
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Capitol Dome from inside the U.S. Capitol Building |
White House
Every president since 1800 has snuggled down in the White House, ensuring that 1600 Pennsylvania Ave is the most famous address in the nation. The White House, a cozier-than-it-looks Neoclassical manor, has survived a torching by the British in 1814, a Jacqueline Kennedy redecoration campaign in the 1960s and Ronald Reagan doing broomstick reruns of the Kentucky Derby through the 1980s. Presidents have customized the property over time: Jefferson added toilets, FDR put in a pool, Truman installed a second-story porch, Bush added a horseshoe-throwing lane and Clinton put in a jogging track and a seven-seat hot tub. Some residents never leave: it's said that Eleanor Roosevelt and Harry Truman both sighted the ghost of Abe Lincoln in Lincoln's old study. Daily tours herd visitors through eight interior rooms but the grounds are only open on Easter Monday for the traditional Easter Egg Roll.
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North exterior of the White House in Washington, DC
including the lawn and fountain. |
Library of Congress
A block east of the Capitol, the Library of Congress has about 100 million items, including 26 million books, 36 million manuscripts and maps, photographs, sheet music and musical instruments. It’s the largest library in the world. Books from the library were used to light the 1814 Capitol fire, after which President Jefferson sold his collection to the library to get the numbers back up. The best part of the library is the 1897 Jefferson Building, with its vaulted ceilings and ornate decoration. Two modern annexes are nearby. The library screens free classic films, and occasionally concerts are given using the library’s five Stradivarius violins.
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The library has a dazzling interior that most tourists will not be able to see. |
Washington Monument
 For a top-notch view of the Potomac Basin, make your way up the 555ft (166m) Washington Monument. This white obelisk rising from the center of the Mall was begun in 1848, but not completed for 37 years. The project was derailed by antipapists who opposed Pope Pius IX's contributions, then the Civil War interrupted. There's an elevator ride to the top, and you can walk back down a staircase lined with plaques from all the states, plus one from the Cherokee Nation. |
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Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. ringed with American flags. |
Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is much more than a monument to the 16th US President. Completed in 1922, it quickly became a symbol of America's commitment to civil rights. From its steps in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr preached, 'I have a dream...' Designed to resemble a Greek temple, the monument's 36 columns represent the 36 states in Lincoln's union. The hands of the 19ft (5.7m) statue read A and L in American Sign Language to honor Lincoln's support for the Gallaudet College for the Deaf.
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Abraham Lincoln Memorial in early morning before the crowds arrive |
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
The most visited memorial in DC is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a stark, powerful structure designed by Maya Ying Lin, whose design was selected from a national competition when she was a 21 year old architecture student at Yale University. Two walls of polished black marble that come together in a V shape are inscribed with the names of 58,202 veterans killed or missing as a result of the Vietnam War. Names are inscribed chronologically from date of death; alphabetical rosters are available nearby. On request, volunteers will help you get rubbings of names from 'The Wall'. The most moving remembrances are the notes, medals and mementos left by survivors, family and friends since the memorial was completed in 1982. Opponents to the design insisted that a more traditional sculpture be added; a memorial to the women who served in the war was another later addition.
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The Viet Nam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. is one of the
newest and most moving memorials on the Mall. |
Smithsonian Institute
The Mall is home to some of the capital's most famous museums. The Smithsonian is among the world's finest research centers, and has 13 phenomenal museums and galleries as well as a zoo. Its collection is so immense that only 1% of it is ever on display. The Smithsonian museums on the Mall are the turreted red-brick Smithsonian Castle (the original Smithsonian), the Freer Gallery of American and Asian Art, the National Museum of African Art, the Arthur M Sackler Gallery of Asian Arts, the Arts & Industries Building (housing a collection of Victorian Americana), the National Gallery of Art and the Hirshhorn collection of modern art.
The Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum is the most popular museum in the world. It's packed with full-size air and spacecraft, including the Wright brothers' plane and the Apollo IX command module. You can touch a moon rock, watch a stomach-churning IMAX film or visit the planetarium. The National Museum of Natural History holds many awesome highlights, including the Hope Diamond, a model of the biggest blue whale ever seen and a giant mammoth. It's got all the favorites: dinosaur bones, insects and a newly renovated hall of gems and minerals. The National Museum of American History is full of cultural touchstones - they've got the original American flag and, more importantly, the original Kermit the Frog, as well as Fonzie's leather jacket, Dorothy's ruby slippers and a whole bunch of sensible historical stuff.
The US Holocaust Museum, half a block south of the Mall, isn't part of the Smithsonian, but it's one of the city's best museums. It's a haunting memorial to victims of Nazi tyranny, covering the period 1933 to 1945. The exhibits - which include film footage, audio recordings, photos and personal belongings - vividly convey the scope and nature of Holocaust atrocities.
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The massive National Air and Space Museum on the Mall has exhibits from the original Wright Brothers plane to a full size copy of NASA's Lunar Landing Module. |
