City: Des Moines, IA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (515) 281-5591

Insider Pick:

Description: Perched atop a hill, with its dome gilded in 23-karat gold leaf and rising to a height of 275 feet, the Capitol is perhaps the most striking site in the entire city. Free tours are given Mon through Sat and cover an impressive amount of space, giving the visitor plenty to see (there is a lot of walking on this tour, including climbing some long staircases). Saturday tours run every hour on the half hour beginning at 9:30 a.m. and ending at 2:30 p.m. Weekday tour times may vary—it’s best to make arrangements ahead of time. Weekend tours do not include the governor’s office, and tours do not go onto the floor of the House or Senate when they are in session, from mid-Jan through mid-Apr. Tours begin at the tour desk on the first floor, one level above the ground floor where you enter the building. Next to the tour desk is a display on the construction of the Capitol, which began in 1871 after the state government moved from the original capital at Iowa City. Twenty-nine types of marble were used in the building, as were 13 types of wood. Much of the original interior was painted over in the 1930s and ’40s, and interior restoration began in the late 1970s, with paint scraped away to reveal the original paint scheme. There has also been renovation work on the sandstone and limestone exterior, including the 5 statues over the pediment. The secretary of state’s office includes the Iowa Constitution, which was signed in 1857 and is displayed in a specially designed case. Down the hall is the old, ornate Supreme Court Chamber, where justices heard cases for nearly 120 years until the new Supreme Court building was completed in 2003. You can see the intricately carved judicial bench, which features whimsical touches like griffins and the “wheels of justice.” The governor’s office is a 4-room suite with both working and formal offices and containing many of its original furnishings dating back to 1885. A huge chandelier hangs over the reception area. A grand staircase rises at the east end of the first floor. Intricately carved alabaster entwines around marble column at the foot of the staircase—look closely to see “fighting lizards” and other details of the carvings. The bronze statues of nymphs, one on each column, were originally intended for the Illinois State Capitol but ended up in Iowa after Illinois found them too risqué! Once you reach the top of the staircase on the second floor, you have a view of the large, majestic mural Westward, which covers an entire wall. The mural measures 40 feet wide by 14 feet high and depicts the arrival of pioneer settlers in Iowa by covered wagon. A female angel figure holds the great seal of Iowa, another holds a book symbolizing learning and enlightenment, and two more hold a basket symbolizing Iowa’s rich agricultural heritage. Two more angels, behind the wagon, hold a model of a steam engine and a dynamo, respectively, representing the coming of the machine age. Above the mural are 6 colorful mosaics, created out of Murano glass from Venice, Italy. Ask your tour guide to point out the optical illusion in the mosaics—it’s hard to see if you don’t know where to look. Higher up in the rotunda are 12 golden statues. Below the statues are 8 lunettes, or half-moon-shaped paintings by 19th-century American artist Kenyon Cox. The House chamber, finished in black walnut with marble wainscoting, is decorated with portraits of notable Iowans and US presidents and still has its original wooden desks. In 1904 a fire broke out when a worker who was part of the building’s conversion from gas to electric light left a candle burning above the chamber. The chamber’s ceiling was destroyed and the Capitol’s lower floors suffered water damage. The Senate chamber is not quite as high as the House chamber, but, like the House chamber, it is finished in walnut and marble. Large brass chandeliers and Corinthian columns, add elegant touches. The second-floor law library is notable for the iron grillwork spiral staircases that snake up 4 levels of bookcases. At each level, grillwork balconies hide passageways that allow staff to circulate around the entire room. Books are still delivered from the upper levels by dumbwaiter, and the entire room has a hushed, scholarly feel. The windows give a nice view down Locust Street to downtown. The climb up inside the dome is about 130 steps from the second floor, with the last 9 steps up a narrow, ladder-like staircase that leads to a “whispering gallery” (ask your guide to demonstrate how it works) directly under the inner dome. Above is stretched a banner with the emblem of the Grand Army of the Republic, including an early American flag and a bald eagle. Round windows evenly spaced along the whispering gallery actually give a view: To the south is the copper dome of the Supreme Court building, and all around are the 4 smaller copper domes at each corner of the Capitol. After leaving the Capitol, check out the main dome from outside. The gold leaf that covers the dome is so thin that 250,000 sheets pressed together would measure only 1 inch thick. The dome also has a lantern and was regilded in 1998–99 at a cost of nearly $500,000.