| Madison is the state
capital of Wisconsin and so has its own state buildings lying on an isthmus
between Lake Monona to the east and Lake Mendota to the west. The first
Wisconsin Capitol building stood for 25 years (1838-63) before being replaced by a
larger building, which was badly damaged by fire in 1904. This is the
third, completed in 1917 at a cost of $7.25 million. It features the only
granite dome in the US and it is also the largest dome by volume in the US. All in
all a very impressive building as you drive up towards it for over a mile. |  |
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Not that it is the only impressive building in Madison. |
| But all roads lead to the
Capitol and Wisconsin is rightly proud of it. There was a farmers' market
around the edge which we viewed while we waited for a tour (which did not
require us to be strip searched or even to have handbags emptied!) |  |
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The statue is of Hans Christian Heg, born in Norway in 1829. He was the
colonel of the 15thWisconsin Volunteers and fell at Chickamauga in 1869 - a
reminder of the huge Scandinavian presence in this state. |
| The dome of the Capitol is topped by a
huge bronze statue of 'Wisconsin'. On the inside is a picture called
'Resources of Wisconsin'. It may look small in this picture but it is
actually huge. |  |
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The top corners of this shot of the central hall under the rotunda feature
two of the four glass mosaics by Kenyon Cox. The mural in the previous
picture is 200ft above these. |
| The tour started in the
Governor's Conference Room which was styled after the small council chambers
of the Doge's palace in Venice. There are 26 pictures by Hugo Ballin. The
room features walnut furniture and a hardwood parquet floor. |  |
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We also visited an assembly room used for legal hearings. The walls are
covered in marble from several different countries. Of particular note is
the Mediterranean marble which features some notable fossils. |
| The building has four
wings around the central rotunda. We visited on a Saturday and there was a
wedding taking place, complete with a chamber orchestra which helps to give
you some idea of the size. |  |
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This is the Supreme Court. (Each State has its own as well as there being a US Federal
one.) Wisconsin has seven Supreme Court judges of whom, uniquely,
four are women. The room is decorated with German and Italian marble,
mahogany furniture and four huge murals by Albert Herter. The marble
panels are made of sheets split and opened like the pages in a book, giving
the impression of symmetry (like ink blot designs). |
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| The Wisconsin Assembly
consists of 99 members each elected for a two year term. The Senate consists
of 33 senators who are elected for four year terms. This is the Senate
Chamber with French and Italian marble, walnut furniture and murals by
Kenyon Cox depicting the opening of the Panama Canal which was opened at the
same time as this building. |  |
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Each senator has his own chair (with his name discreetly on the back) They
look very comfortable if you are large, but weren't so comfortable
for us... |
| The last room was another
Senate room (known as the parlour and accessed only from the Senate room) where senators can rest since they are
not allowed to leave while the Senate is in session. How many people does
it take to change a light bulb? In the case of the Capitol, just one - but
it is his full time job as there are over 40,000, and over 100 fail each day.
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Finally we walked back to the camper, passing by this conference centre
which was hosting an environmental day and was full of bicycles. |
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