Capitolio Nacional

The Capitolio Nacional occupies the entire south side of the Plaza de Bolívar in La Candelaria, Bogotá, Colombia, and has housed the Congress of the Republic since the 19th century. Construction began in 1848 to a design by the Danish architect Thomas Reed, who had been brought to Colombia to head public works, and the cornerstone was laid at a time when the young republic sought a monumental seat for its legislature. The project proved a long one. Civil wars, financial shortages and changes of government repeatedly halted the work, and the building was completed only in 1926, nearly eight decades later, with several architects contributing to the final stages. The style is neoclassical, with a long façade of Ionic columns raised on a podium, a central pediment and a symmetrical arrangement of wings around interior courtyards. The most notable interior space is the Patio de los Libertadores, where the statues of the leaders of independence stand, and there are chambers for the Senate and House of Representatives, ceremonial halls, and paintings and sculptures of political themes. The stone came from local quarries, and the scale of the building reflects the ambitions of the republic in the mid-19th century. The structure has undergone restoration to repair earthquake damage and the ageing of its stonework. Because the Capitolio remains a working parliament, access to the interior is controlled. Visits, where available, are normally guided and must be requested in advance with the Congress protocol office, and identification is needed. The exterior can be viewed and photographed at all hours from the plaza, where the building forms a backdrop to public ceremonies and political demonstrations. Together with the cathedral, the Palacio Liévano and the Palace of Justice, it makes the plaza the seat of Colombia's ecclesiastical, legislative, municipal and judicial power.