The United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

25 March 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  7 minutes

Barack Obama's 2009 Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol © flickr.com - Steve Jurvetson/cc-by-2.0

Barack Obama’s 2009 Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol © flickr.com – Steve Jurvetson/cc-by-2.0

The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol Building, is the home of the United States Congress, and the seat of the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. It is located on Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Though no longer at the geographic center of the Federal District, the Capitol forms the origin point for the District’s street-numbering system and the District’s four quadrants. The United States Capitol Complex is a group of about a dozen buildings and facilities. The United States Capitol Visitor Center (CVC), located below the East Front of the Capitol and its plaza, between the Capitol building and 1st Street East, opened on December 2, 2008.   read more…

Theme Week Washington, D.C.

27 November 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  7 minutes

Lincoln Memorial by night © flickr.com - CrashingWaves/cc-by-2.0

Lincoln Memorial by night © flickr.com – CrashingWaves/cc-by-2.0

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, “the District”, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16, 1790, approved the creation of a capital district located along the Potomac River on the country’s East Coast. As permitted by the U.S. Constitution, the District is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States Congress and is therefore not a part of any U.S. state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, which included the preexisting settlements of Georgetown and Alexandria; however, Congress returned the Virginia portion in 1846. Named in honor of George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. Congress created a single municipal government for the whole District of Columbia after the American Civil War.   read more…

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