Has it been 7 months already?? Last July I posted about my visit to the Utah State Capitol Building and gave you a preview of another State Capitol building I visit on the same trip. I've finally got round to post about it today.
The centennial state
When I went to America last May, Denver in Colorado was the first and last city of my road trip. Colorado is called the centennial state because it became America's 38th state in 1876, 100 years after American became independent from UK in 1776.
Today I want to take you on a tour of the Colorado State Capitol Building. The building opened in 1894, 18 years after Colorado joined the America union. There are entrances on four sides of the building. Depending on which direction you arrive, you may or may not see the 99.9% pure gold gilded top dome. The gold is mined locally and weighs 4 pounds, that's roughly worth about $180k today!
The mile high city
It took me a little while to find the correct public entrance, it was on the other side of the building. Specifically, I was looking for the staircase which says One mile above sea level. Denver is also known as the Mile High City because it is one mile above sea level. They marked this on the 15th step to confirm it. In 1969, the 18th step was determined to be exactly one mile ASL and another marking was made, you can see that on the left of my butt😅. Then in 2003 another survey was done, and now the 13th step was said to be exactly one mile ASL. I wonder if they do a fourth survey in 2025, if it will change again 🤔
Inside the state capitol building
Compared to the Utah state capital building, Colorado was a bit smaller. I don't know enough about American history to understand what contributes to this. Anyway, the four storey tall building was still a remarkable piece of architecture.
The grand staircase and rotunda
I wandered further inside and found the focal point of the building - the grand staircase and the rotunda. It was stunning. The staircase is made from Yule marble flooring, and is native to Colorado. Apparently, it's one of the best marbles in the world, and is also used in the Lincoln Memorial in DC. I have to give it to Colorado, I haven't seen anything like this in all the grand houses I've visited in the UK. Truly impressive.
Even the side staircases in the building were beautifully designed. Like a bridesmaids, subtly beautiful but not overshadowing the bride, playing their part to make the whole place look the best.
The two Houses
Every US state have their own House of Representatives and Senate, and meet regularly to serve the public. There are 65 Representatives and 35 Senators. The Representatives meet in the Green chamber, and the Senators in the Red chamber. These colours are the same as the UK where we have the lower house the Hous of Parliament in green, and the upper House of Lords in red.
When I went to our Parliament last year we weren't allowed to take any photos inside the Houses, but it was fine here. I even walked around the public gallery to get a birds eye view of the House.
There's a massive chandelier hanging down from the ceiling in each of the House. They're identical and each one weighs over 770kg!! I can't even think how they managed to get it up there in the first place, or how to change a light bulb!! Plus, I wouldn't want to be sitting directly underneath it 😅
Presidential portrait gallery
The other area that caught my eye was the presidential portrait gallery. It includes portraits of all the POTUS starting with Washington, then they go around the rotunda. It was very interesting to see how people's looks have evolved over 250 years. I didn't recognise many of the earlier names till I got to the 60s onwards. The last portrait is Trump, Biden was still president when I visited. I wonder if in the future there will be two orange portraits on the wall, and I also wonder when there will be a female portrait here?
Women's Gold Tapestry
As I about to leave the building, I noticed a group of guided tour looking at an embroidery hanging on the wall on the first floor. I saw it earlier on but didn't pay much attention to it as I was eager to explore the rest of the building.
This piece of tapestry was hand made to celebrate Colorado’s centennial in 1977 (remember I said they became the 38th state in 1876?). It measures 9 x 12 feet, took over 3500 people 4500 hours and 2 years to make, and pays tribute to the sacrifices and contributions made by many of the pioneering women to make Colorado what it is today. And do you see a rainbow at the top which says 1876 to 2076. The Coloradans were clearly looking into the future to celebrate its bicentennial, that's only some 50 years ahead. Perhaps by then, women will have made it from this tapestry on the first floor to the presidential portrait gallery on the third floor.
