State Capitol

Built in the 1960s, Hawaii's State Capitol is not your standard gold dome. It's a poster-child of conceptual post-modernism: the two cone-shaped legislative chambers represent volcanoes; the supporting columns symbolize palm trees. Trade winds blow gently through an open rotunda, and a large pool representing the ocean surrounding Hawaii encircles the entire structure.

Visitors are free to walk through the rotunda and past the legislative chambers. In front of the capitol stands a statue of Father Damien, the Belgian priest who in 1873 volunteered to work among leprosy victims on Moloka'i. The stylized sculpture was created by Venezuelan artist Marisol Escobar. Directly opposite on S Beretania St, an eternal torch memorializes soldiers who died in WWII.