Washington DC Essentials

Take a walk through the heart of the nation's capital to see its defining civic institutions and premier museums.

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1. Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court building is defined by its massive white marble facade, which features a row of sixteen Corinthian columns leading to a central, temple-like entrance. For nearly one hundred and fifty years, the Court had no permanent…

2. United States Capitol

The United States Capitol is distinguished by its massive, white cast-iron dome, which rises two hundred eighty-eight feet above its base. Since George Washington laid the cornerstone in seventeen ninety-three, the building has served as…

3. Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum

The National Air and Space Museum is defined by four massive, marble-clad cubes connected by three steel-and-glass atria. Opened on the National Mall in nineteen seventy-six, this building was designed by architect Gyo Obata to hold entire…

4. National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art is defined by the massive West Building, a neoclassical structure clad in Tennessee pink marble that was once the largest marble building in the world. Established by an act of Congress in nineteen thirty-seven,…

5. National Archives Research Center

The National Archives Building, known as Archives One, occupies the block between seventh and ninth streets along Pennsylvania Avenue. It is defined by its massive, colonnaded stone facade, a design by architect John Russell Pope intended…

6. Ford's Theatre

Ford’s Theatre is recognizable by its brick facade on Tenth Street Northwest, which features several altered window openings where brick colors differ due to repairs. Originally built in eighteen thirty-three as the First Baptist Church,…

7. National Museum of African American History and Culture

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is recognizable by its three-tiered, bronze-colored metal lattice facade. This intricate screen contrasts with the surrounding white marble and stone monuments on the National…

8. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum sits at one hundred Raoul Wallenberg Place in Southwest Washington, distinct for its use of industrial brick and steel forms that intentionally evoke the unsettling architectural language of…

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