Capitolio Nacional
General information
Architectural style	Neo-classical, art nouveau
Town or city	Havana
Country	Cuba
Construction started	April 1, 1926
Completed	May 20, 1929
Cost	17 million pesos (at the time)
Technical details
Structural system	Steel frame
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Raúl Otero and Eugenio Rayneri Piedra
Engineer	Purdy and Henderson, Engineers

El Capitolio, or National Capitol Building in Havana, Cuba, was the organization of government in Cuba until after the Cuban Revolution in 1959.

The project began on April 1926, during the Gerardo Machado administration. Construction was overseen by the U.S. firm of Purdy and Henderson. Prior to the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the Congress was housed in the building, the Congress was abolished and disbanded following the Cuban Revolution in 1959 and the building fell into disrepair.

"El Capitolio" has a size of 681 by 300  ft. Its design although it is often compared to that of the United States Capitol, it is not a replica of it.^[1] "It is similar to that in Washington D.C, but a meter higher, a meter wider, and a meter longer, as well as much richer in detail. To finish its construction they needed more than 5000 workers, 3 years, 3 months and 20 days; as well as approximately 17 millions of American dollars".^[2] Completed in 1929, it was the tallest building in Havana until the 1950s. It houses the world's third largest indoor statue.

As of 2013, the Government of Cuba has been slowly restoring the building for use once again as the home of Cuba's National Assembly.[1]

According to its architect, Eugenio Rayneri Piedra, the inspiration for the cupola came from the Panthéon in Paris by way of Bramante's Tempietto[2] in San Pietro in Montorio.

The cupola, which is stone clad around a steel frame constructed in the United States, is set planimetrically forward on the building to allow for the apse that contains The Statute of the Republic. [3] At almost 92 m (302 ft) high, the dome was the highest point in the city of Havana until 1956 when the FOCSA Building was built reaching a height of 121 meters (397 ft). The Capitolio had the third highest dome in the world at the time of its construction.

Around the building are gardens designed by French landscape architect Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier. Based on the designs of European gardens they consist of areas of lawn bordered by paths and highlighted by palm trees. Four groups of Royal Palms accent the design.

The 55 steps leading to the main entrance, known as La Escalinata are flanked on either side by 6.5 m (21 ft) statues by the Italian artist Angelo Zanelli. To the left is Work (El Trabajo) and to the right The Tutelary Virtue (La Virtud Tutelar). The steps lead up to the central portico, which is 36 m (118 ft) wide and more than 16 m (52+1⁄2 ft) tall. There are 12 granite columns in the ionic order arranged in two rows and each over 14 m (46 ft) tall. Beyond the portico, three large bronze doors with bas-reliefs by Zanelli allow access to the main hall.

The inside of the main hall under the cupola is dominated by the huge Statue of the Republic (La Estatua de la República). The statue, also by Zanelli, was cast in bronze in Rome in three pieces and assembled inside the building after its arrival in Cuba. It is covered with 22 carat (92%) gold leaf and weighs 49 tons. At 15 m (49+1⁄4 ft) tall, it was the second highest statue under cover in the world at the time, with only the Great Buddha of Nara being taller. The statue stands on a plinth 2.5 m (8+1⁄4 ft) high bringing the total height to 17.54 m (57+1⁄2 ft). A Creole Cuban, Lily Valty served as the model for the body for Zanelli, and the inspiration for the statue came from Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom.

Embedded in the floor in the centre of the main hall is a replica 25 carat (5 g) diamond, which marks Kilometre Zero for Cuba. The original diamond, said to have belonged to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and have been sold to the Cuban state by a Turkish merchant, was stolen on 25 March 1946 and mysteriously returned to the President, Ramón Grau San Martín, on 2 June 1946. To either side of the main hall is the Salón de Pasos Perdidos (Hall of Lost Steps), named for its acoustic properties. These halls, with inlaid marble floors and gilded lamps, lead to the two semicircular chambers that formerly housed the Parliament and Chamber of Deputies. The Parliament chamber to the right of building is backed on to by the President's office which has a door opening directly onto the dais.

A range of different lamps are seen throughout the building. These were all designed specifically for the building by Cuban designers and the majority of them manufactured in France.

In the centre of the building are two patios which provide light and ventilation for the offices of first (ground), third and fourth floors. The north patio features another statue The Rebellious Angel (El Ángel Rebelde) which was donated to the building after the inauguration. There is a small fifth floor, and a sixth floor which gives access only to part of the cupola.

A wide granite staircase of 55 steps, 36 meters wide and 16 meters high, leads to the portico of the building. This hall has twelve columns of Ionic order, six on the first line and the others on the second line of walls. The pillars stand out with a diameter of 1.55 meters and a height of 14.10 meters. Its two-sided Ionic and Roman capitals also impress with their sizes. Reasons for the hall, located in all the doors and the lateral panels, are the Boticcino marble squares sculpted by Angelo Zanelli.

On both sides of the end of the staircase appear two impressive bronze sculptural groups with granite pedestal, the Italian Angelo Zanelli, one male and the other female, have a height of 6.70 meters and represent the first progress of human activity and the second the tutelary virtue of the people.

The Dome Its elegance makes the building recognize from various points of Havana, whose height reaches 91.73 meters. Crossing the central portico you will reach the roundabout under the dome. Once there, if you look to both ends you will see that the two wings of the Hall of the Lost Steps follow, of eclectic style and ready for big receptions.

The shields of the six Cuban provinces stand out in the dome, while at the end of each of the rooms are the access doors to the halls and galleries, crowned with the national shield in bronze.

Located in the apse, the Statue of the Republic, with a weight of 30 tons and a total height of 14.60 meters, rests on a marble pedestal of 2.50 meters. It is the figure of a young woman standing, dressed in a tunic, with a helmet, shield and lance, for her modeling the Cuban Lily Lalty was chosen. It was sculpted by Angelo Zanelli, author of the Altar of the Fatherland, which is part of the monument to King Victor Emmanuel, in Rome. It is the third indoor statue in the world in size, surpassed only by the Golden Buddha of Nava, Japan and Abraham Lincoln in the mausoleum erected in his honor in Washington.

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  To either side of the main hall is the Salón de Pasos Perdidos.
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  The library
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  The court
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  La Estatua de la República, the world's third largest statue under cover.
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• "El Capitolio de la Habana" (in Spanish). Convenciones Capitolio de La Habana. 2007. Archived from the original on 8 June 2007. Retrieved 3 May 2007. ((cite web)): Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
• Rachel Carley (2000). Cuba: 400 Years of Architectural Heritage. Watson-Guptill. p. 224. ISBN 0-8230-1128-3.
• "Capitolio de La Habana" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 3 June 2007. Retrieved 3 May 2007. ((cite web)): Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
• Pedro Quiroga (1998). "El Capitolio: Un emporio en La Habana" (in Spanish). Radio Reloj, La Habana. Archived from the original on 9 May 2007. Retrieved 3 May 2007. ((cite web)): Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

Notes

Media related to El Capitolio at Wikimedia Commons

23°08′07″N 82°21′34″W / 23.13528°N 82.35944°W / 23.13528; -82.35944