El Capitolio is Havana's most imposing building — a neoclassical capitol completed in 1929 that was modelled on the US Capitol in Washington (though Cuban guides will tell you it's one metre taller, one metre wider, and more beautiful, all of which may be true) and served as the seat of Cuba's government until the revolution. The building has been recently restored and now houses the Cuban Academy of Sciences and is open for guided tours.
The dome — 91.73 metres high, the third-highest in the world when built — is visible from much of central Havana and serves as the city's primary architectural landmark. The interior features a 17-metre bronze statue (the Statue of the Republic, the third-largest indoor statue in the world), a 25-carat diamond embedded in the floor marking the Kilometre Zero point from which all distances in Cuba are measured, and the kind of marble, gold leaf, and decorative excess that only a sugar-rich economy in the 1920s could fund.
El Capitolio sits on the Paseo del Prado, Havana's most elegant boulevard — a tree-lined promenade of marble benches, bronze lions, and the kind of Belle Époque street furniture that makes the walk from the Parque Central to the Malecón feel like walking through a European capital that accidentally relocated to the Caribbean.
Verified Facts
El Capitolio was completed in 1929
The dome reaches 91.73 metres
A 25-carat diamond marks Cuba's Kilometre Zero
The Statue of the Republic is the third-largest indoor statue in the world
Get walking directions
Paseo del Prado, Centro Habana, Havana, Cuba
