Capitol Building

Similar to the Capitol in Washington, the building is crowned by a cupola – which for a good part of the 1950s was the highest point in Havana (until the construction of the Revolution Square). Inside the building, a statue representing the Republic rises over 55 feet (17 meters) into the inside of the cupola, which makes it the third largest indoor statue in the world. At her feet, a 25 carat diamond marks Cuba’s Kilometer Zero.
Expanding to the laterals of this central point (accessed through a 55-step stairway leading to Paseo del Prado Street) there are halls that connect with semicircular chambers on the extremes of the building.
The motifs and decoration of the Capitol Building feature gilded lamps, marble floors, statues by Italian sculptor Angelo Zanelli, and gardens designed by French landscape architect Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier (the designer of the Champ de Mars gardens below the Eiffel Tower).