US Capitol Building, District of Columbia

As the home of Congress, this is the seat of government for the USA. The building opened in 1800, when the federal government got up and running in Washington DC, after more than two decades in Philadelphia, and other places. The name, Capitol, came from Thomas Jefferson, as a reference to a temple on Capitoline Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome. Inside is the House Chamber, in the southern wing, and the Senate Chamber, in the northern wing. In the middle, the older core of the building, are former congressional chambers, and the former Supreme Court rooms (before they got their own building across the street in 1935), and the Great Rotunda, under the capitol dome. Throughout are a few hundred similarly sized rooms lining hallways, on four floors, and used as offices. Additional Senate offices are located in separate buildings north of the Capitol, and additional House of Representative offices are located in buildings on the south side of the Capitol. They are connected to the Capitol by a special underground congressional subway. In the crypt area of the Capitol there is an empty tomb chamber for George Washington, the only president who never administered at or lived in Washington, and who refused to go there, even after he died.