Often mistaken for an imitation of the US Capitol, Havana’s monumental Capitolio is marginally higher, longer and wider than its American counterpart. This grandiose edifice, with its Pantheon-like dome, is just as spectacular on the inside, where guided tours will take you around most of the main features, including the lavish interior offices.
Greek Columns & Golden Statues
Climb 55 steps to the elaborate entrance, with three great doors that narrate the story of Cuba in bronze. The left depicts Christopher Columbus’ arrival, the middle Cuba’s liberation from Spain and the right the Cuban Revolution. The interior of El Capitolio is breathtaking, with sumptuous governmental offices furnished in exuberant French rococo and empire styles. The building contains the world’s third-largest indoor statue, a 17.6 m-tall bronze woman called La República, covered in gold leaf.
A Diamond Not so in the Rough
In the floor of the entrance hall is a replica 25-carat diamond that marks Cuba's kilometer zero. The original was mysteriously stolen in 1946 and then handed back to then president Grau San Martin a year later. The real diamond is currently protected in the National Bank of Cuba.
Spectacular Neoclassic Building
After a massive eight-year refurbishment, El Capitolio reopened its doors to visitors in 2018. Built between 1926 and 1929 by over 8000 workers, drawing from a bottomless pit of sugar money, it cost a cool US$17 million (US$300 million today). It served as the seat of the Cuban Congress and the national legislature until 1959.
