| Our campsite was about
seven miles outside the centre of Denver but we were able to catch a bus
from the site to the town ($1.75 each way, which we thought was good value).
It dropped us not far from the State Capitol building so we went in search
of a tour. |  |
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The style of many of these Capitol buildings is similar with large central
open spaces soaring up to domes. They are all full of symbolism. |
| Colorado's capitol has
many stained glass panels. These are on internal walls so don't show up so
clearly. Many of the panels depict influential figures in the history of the
state. |  |
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The building took 22 years to build because the sponsors wanted it to be
built from materials found in Colorado rather than imported French and
Italian marbles. This rose onyx marble came from a quarry at Beulah in
Colorado. The building used all that has ever been found and so is unique.
They also wanted the outside to be built with granite quarried in Gunnison.
This increased the cost so much that they sacked the architect because he
was on a percentage even though he didn't make the decision. The floors are
covered in marble from the town of Marble CO. The building was eventually
completed at a cost of $3 million and most of the 160 rooms were in use by
1894. |
| The tapestry is called
"Women's Gold" and tells the story of the women pioneers. More than 3500
women put at least one stitch in it. |  |
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The Supreme Court chamber is not as ornate as others we have seen, but the
room still instils a sense of the majesty of the law. |
| More stained glass
windows honouring key historical figures. Here are two Ute chieftains who in
later years proved to be true statesmen for their nation. |  |
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Colorado has two chambers, as do all US states except Nebraska. This is the
House of Representatives chamber with more glass panels and a huge
chandelier. The room is being refurbished during the recess, so the wiring
used for voting is laid across the desks. The chairs are upholstered in the
same colour as in the House of Commons - but this is as close to the British
form of democracy as it gets! |
| A close up of another
chandelier - this one helps to light the central domed area. Note also the
stained glass window probably showing on of the governors of the state. |  |
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The third floor balcony around the dome chamber has pictures of all the US
presidents on the walls. |
| We opted to take the
additional tour and go up the dome itself (14 stories). This is a separate
tour because of the numbers of steps you have to climb to reach to top. |  |
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This is the dome viewed from the ground floor. The 16 (bluish) panels are
stained glass panels featuring more prominent figures in the development of
the state. See the central boss at the apex of the dome? |
| Both of these pictures
hide the true size since that boss is two feet in diameter. The dome is
quite beautiful. |  |
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There is a further ladder which the public are not allowed to climb (it
doesn't provide enough capacity for evacuation in the event of an
emergency!) This gives access to the outside of the dome and is used by
workmen when they renew the gold leaf on the outside of the dome. |
| One of the panels is of
Kit Carson, a famous frontiersman and Pony Express rider. |  |
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Another panel is of a major chief of the Ute nation, Ouray (1833-1880). Born
an Apache, he married a Ute woman and eventually became leader of one of the
Ute tribes. He spoke English, Spanish, Ute and Apache and was a very shrewd
negotiator. US President Rutherford Hayes called him the most intellectual
man he had met. |
| The building was designed
with an underfloor heating system. The architect didn't want to spoil his
work of art with such utilitarian equipment as heating appliances, so an
underground railway was constructed to bring the coal in to the boilers, the
heat from which rose through vents in the floor. The boiler was stoked by a
man who never came up and was paid in silver dollars. When he died they
hunted for but never found the silver. He is said to haunt the basement. |  |
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There is a small museum of the drawings of the original architect and other
interesting facts about the building, including this detailed model. |
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