Washington State Capitol Building and Campus — Attraction in Olympia

The Capitol building is a short walk from the visitor center parking lot. Very welcoming personnel and docents enhanced the visit. The extensive use of marble from five countries is astounding. Our docent was a former educator and extremely knowledgeable. Although there weren’t any sessions underway, we enjoyed seeing the areas and learning more about government processes. The rotunda and the unique Tiffany chandeliers are exquisite. Even if you don’t “need to go”, go into one of the restrooms for more marble craftsmanship. If you’re able, take the stairs for even more. There is a small cafeteria where you can get a beverage and food, but it is also used by employees. We went in late morning for a beverage before our tour but decided to pass due to the wait and our approaching tour time. I can imagine that during lunch, you might have a wait because many menu items are prepared as they are ordered. Fortunate for us, we visited on Potato Day. Staff and visitors were treated in the rotunda to complementary baked potatoes with numerous toppings to choose from plus beverages. We were told that the following day would be Ice Cream Day. Although there were four adults and no children on my guided tour, I did see materials designed for children and got a sense that the tour could easily be adapted to...

One of the most remarkable State Capitol buildings, with a towering dome and gleaming neoclassical columns on the outside and an elaborately decorated interior with the largest Tiffany lamps ever constructed, their Art Nouveau exuberance filling the interior with a kind of glamorous imaginativeness, a combination of myth and modern technology that is very distinctly early 20th century. In the center of the rotunda there is an enormous state seal that is surrounded by four ornate Roman cauldrons in the four corners, each burning with a flame to commemorate the ongoing workings of the democratic process. Surrounding each cauldron are flags from the different counties in Washington, of which there are almost forty. This is a space that elevates the spirit above the banal routines of everyday commercial life into a sense of reverence and pride for democracy and the systems that uphold it. I highly recommend taking a tour in order to learn about the specific history of the building in all its elaborate grandeur, and the tours leave relatively frequently. Still, nothing compares to simply being in this building especially when it's quiet and feeling the immensity and elegance of that space, built a deep care and ennobling concern...

I visited the Washington State Capitol back in January 2017 and absolutely loved the building. Completed in 1928 as one of the last Capitol buildings to be constructed in the style of Classical Revival, this magnificent structure welcomes her constituents and visitors: foreign and domestic, with elegant marble corridors and staircases and the largest private collection of Tiffany lights. Upon entering the grand rotunda, the Capitol captives her visitors with four monumental Olympic cauldrons, beautifully crafted brass railings boasting the face of President George Washington, and a massive chandelier suspended from the dome. The Capitol's interior is wonderfully decorated with 4 different varieties of marble from two different continents: the rotunda and corridors are decorated with Tokeen marble from Alaska, the State Room decorated in Italian marble, the House of Representatives Chamber in French marble, and the Senate Chamber in German marble. I strongly recommend visiting the Washington State Capitol, for she is a beautiful structure and magnificent symbol of the Evergreen State and American...