The Havana Capitol is actually very reminiscent of the world's most famous Capitol in Washington. Havana was built in 1929, but the Cuban parliament met here for exactly 30 years - and only. After this, the beautiful and impressive building was turned into an open-air conference center. Today, the Ministry of Science, the Museum of History and the Library are also located here

Under the leadership of Eugenio Piedra, the Renaissance building of the Capitol in Havana was built for three years and open on Cuban Independence Day . The architect did not set the task to copy the building word for word in the USA: the external appearance of the Capitol reminds, for example, the Parisian pantheon, and in general, For the monumental buildings of the Renaissance; mainly for churches in the style of the Italian Renaissance . Nevertheless, the Capitol in Havana came out even more than Washington, which gave the ruling dictator an additional reason to be proud of the Americans . 92-meter Capitol dome from all structures with similar architecture overtake only the domes of St. Peter's Cathedral in the Vatican and London's St. Paul .

Around the building of light sandstone and granite, landscaped gardens were destroyed, for which the French specialist was invited. At the central entrance are six Doric columns and two sculptures by the Italian master Zanetti, symbolizing the Work and the Keeper of Virtue. From the building you can go to two nice patios; in the north there is a statue of a fallen angel. There are six floors in the Capitol, but the latter allows access only to the part of the dome

The main entrance to the Capitol is equipped with three impressive doors of bronze with bas-reliefs for historical scenes, also performed by Zanetti . The stories reflect the formation of the country from the time Columbus opened the New World and until the time when the building was built . Going inside, you can first admire the 11-meter sculptural allegory of the Cuban Republic, which is depicted as a woman with a peak and shield . Bronze Physics guru is covered with gold leaf and weighs almost 50 tons . Created by the same sculptor as the figures at the main entrance, in size it is second only to two statues in the world (except those, of course, that are installed outdoors) . The statue stands in the semicircular niche of the hall with the poetic name "Salon of Lost Steps", reflecting the interesting acoustic feature of the premises .

Another remarkable artifact is the zero mark symbolically marking the very heart of the country for distance from it. Earlier on Zero kilometer indicated a 25-carat diamond in the center of a cast metal star, embedded in the floor exactly under the central point of the dome. The diamond belonged to the Romanov dynasty and after the Russian revolution was bought in Paris. The jewel once stole (the stone returned to its place in a year), and in the 70's. it was replaced with a glass, and the original was hidden in the Central Bank.

Other interiors of the Capitol in Havana are also more than remarkable. Given that the building itself was under construction for 3 years, the interior decoration took three times as much. The noblely dark room of the library is decorated with panels of valuable mahogany. A variety of lamps were specially designed for the building by Cuban designers and produced in France. The courtroom has a symmetrical gallery with a number of columns crowned with the capitals of the Corinthian order

Capitol in Havana

Capitol in Havana, view from the city

Capitol in Havana at night