Capitol Rotunda

The United States Capitol rotunda is the central rotunda (built 1818–1824) of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.. Located below the Capitol dome (built 1857–1866), it is the tallest part of the Capitol and has been described as its "symbolic and physical heart."

The rotunda is surrounded by corridors connecting the House of Representatives and Senate sides of the Capitol. To the south of the rotunda is the semi-circular National Statuary Hall, which until 1857 was the House of Representatives chamber. To the northeast of the rotunda is the Old Senate Chamber, used by the Senate until 1859 and by the Supreme Court of the United States until 1935.

The rotunda is 96 feet (29 m) in diameter and rises 48 feet (15 m) to the top of its walls and 180 feet 3 inches (54.94 m) to the canopy of the dome, and is visited by thousands of people each day. It is also used for ceremonial events authorized by concurrent resolution, including the lying in state of honored people.

The doctor and architect William Thornton was the winner of the contest to design the Capitol in 1793. Thornton had first conceived the idea of a central rotunda. However, due to lack of funds or resources, oft-interrupted construction, and the British attack on Washington during the War of 1812, work on the rotunda did not begin until 1818. The rotunda was completed in 1824 under Architect of the Capitol Charles Bulfinch, as part of a series of new buildings and projects in preparation for the final visit of Marquis de Lafayette in 1824. The rotunda was designed in the neoclassical style and was intended to evoke the design of the Pantheon.

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