Note: click photo for larger view. Copyright © David A. Porter

I (David) have always been a fan of architecture.  I suppose my love for architecture grew out of my European travels during my college days.  I bought my first expensive camera during those days, and had the opportunity to photograph most of Western Europe’s beautiful cathedrals.  I’ll never forget the awe I felt as I walked into my first grand cathedral all those years ago.

As our country is a mere 238 years old, we don’t have any 500 year old architectural wonders for me to explore and photograph.  However, that doesn’t mean that we don’t have a few architectural jewels of our own.

One of those jewels, in my humble opinion, is the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington D.C.

Here’s this from the architecture of Capitol Hill website:

“Neoclassical architecture style encompasses the styles of Federal and Greek Revival architecture which were a major influence during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was during this period that many of the foundational buildings of the United States government were constructed.

Perhaps the single greatest example of these architectural styles is the United States Capitol Building, for which construction began in 1793. Thomas Jefferson wanted Congress housed in a replica of an ancient Roman temple. Since the capitol in Richmond, Virginia, was an example of Roman “cubic” architecture, he thought the federal Capitol should be modeled after a “spherical” temple.

The U.S. Capitol’s designs, derived from ancient Greece and Rome, evoke the ideals that guided the nation’s founders as they framed their new republic.”

I captured this photograph in February of 2008, and it remains one of my favorites from that journey.  

To plan your visit to the U.S. Capitol Building, go here: https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/

 
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