Illinois State Capitol: Take the Tour

The bronze sculpture of a woman standing in the rotunda of the Illinois State Capitol welcomed us with open arms. She stands directly beneath a beautiful stained-glass dome that tops the building where Illinois law is proposed, debated and put to legislative vote. Taking a look around the Italian Renaissance Revival building, statues, paintings and ornate walls and ceilings surrounded us. To learn more about the art, architecture and what goes on in the capitol, we took the free half-hour tour.

 

Illinois Welcomes the World

Illinois state capitol dome

Illinois State Capitol Senate Chambers

The tour began in the Senate chambers where we took seats in the gallery overlooking the senate floor.

Illinois Senate chambers

Our guide filled us in on several facts about the building and the legislators.

•   Legislators are in session from January to May. We visited in May, and if we had been there the day before, we may have been able to see some action. But we were there on a Friday, and legislators usually take Mondays and Fridays off.

•   All of the senators’ offices are in the capitol. Some of the representatives’ offices are there as well, but most are across the street in another building. A tunnel between the two buildings keeps them from having to go outside in the inclement weather.

•   The capitol also houses the offices of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Comptroller and Treasurer.

•   The building construction started in 1868, and it took twenty years to complete at a cost of $4.35 million. The final cost was under budget by $6.35. The dome is 361 feet high, 74 feet taller than the U.S. Capitol.

•   There are 9,000 pieces of stained glass in the dome, with 42 different colors.

•   The wood throughout the building is mahogany and walnut, and the marble is from the United States, Italy and Switzerland.

•   The bas relief sculptures on the Senate ceiling are painted with gold and bronze leaf.

Ceiling in Illinois state capitol senate chambers

•   The European crystal chandeliers in both the Senate and House chambers, original to the building, are 17.5 feet tall, weigh 750 pounds each, and are hand-cranked down for their annual cleaning.

chandelier

•   The carpeting was milled on 150-year-old looms in England. The strips are 27” wide and look as if they were hand-stitched together.

Illinois State Capitol House Chambers

Our next stop was the House Chambers, where a school tour group sat at the representatives’ desks, learning about the legislative process and voting in a mock election.

Illinois State Capitol House chambers

•   The House of Representatives hears 6,000 bills a year. Of those 6,000 bills, 600 will pass from the House to the Senate. About 50 of the bills passed to the Senate will pass into law.

Don’t miss a Midwest Wanderer post.  For a FREE subscription, enter your e-mail address in the Subscribe2 box to the right and click Subscribe.

•   Voting is done electronically. Each representative has a block on his or her desk with several buttons used to call his or her page; to turn on the mic; and to vote yes, no or present (abstain). The number of the bill is listed on an electronic screen, as are the names of the representatives and a colored dot that corresponds with how they vote. A video screen shows whoever is speaking.

Voting in the Illinois House

A fun bit of trivia: The movie, Legally Blonde2, was filmed in the Illinois House chambers. The U.S. Capitol wasn’t available, and this one resembled the U.S. Capitol more closely than any other in the country.

Rotunda and Old Supreme Courtroom

Following our tour of the House chambers, we stopped at three floors of the rotunda, where our guide pointed out various architectural features, as well as paintings and statues, and explained their historical significance.

Illinois State Capitol interior

Art in the Illinois State Capitol rotunda

Painting in the Illinois State CapitolOur last stop was the Old Supreme Courtroom. The Illinois Supreme Court moved to its own building in 1908 because the room was too small. Today the ornately decorated room is used as a senate committee hearing room.

Old Supreme Courtroom

Ceiling in Old Supreme CourtroomAfter the tour you may wander about, if you’d like, in any of the public areas. You can go back to read inscriptions on the artwork or take photos you may not have had time to take during the tour. But if you visit, do take the tour. It will help you to understand the significance of much of the art work.

If you go to the Illinois State Capitol

The Illinois State Capitol is located at 410 Second Street in Springfield, Illinois. Free tours begin every half hour (except 12-1 p.m.). Check the web site for hours and other details.

Accommodations

We’ve stayed in several different hotels on our visits to Springfield over the years and have been happy with all of them. Find the best hotel deal for you, compare prices, and read what other travelers have to say at TripAdvisor.

Pin It!

Illinois State Capitol

**********

Disclosures: The Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau hosted my visit to Springfield. However, any opinions expressed in this article are my own.
This article contains an affiliate link. If you book a hotel room through the TripAdvisor link above, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Thank you for reading Midwest Wanderer. Don’t miss a post. Enter your e-mail address below and click Subscribe, and we will notify you whenever we publish another post. Subscription is FREE. After subscribing, be sure to click the link when you get the e-mail asking you to confirm.


 

15 thoughts on “Illinois State Capitol: Take the Tour

  • July 11, 2015 at 8:52 pm
    Permalink

    Very impressive and a place that I don’t know a lot about

    Reply
    • July 12, 2015 at 7:43 pm
      Permalink

      I was surprised at how beautiful the inside of the building is. I’m glad we finally toured it.

      Reply
  • July 11, 2015 at 11:48 pm
    Permalink

    What a wonderful place, I love that bronze statue under the domes rotunda and it looks like this was an informative tour learning about the historical protocols at the Capitol. It is a lovely and opulent building, thank you for sharing on #TheWeeklyPostcard.
    You may be interested to see our local tour of Parliament in my hometown, Perth http://www.aholeinmyshoe.com/inside-the-house-on-the-hill/

    Reply
    • July 12, 2015 at 7:51 pm
      Permalink

      I just read your article about the tour of your local Parliament, Lyn. It’s interesting to see the layout of the seating in Australia versus the U.S. I love the staircase.

      Reply
  • July 12, 2015 at 9:24 am
    Permalink

    We saw the outside of the Capitol Building last year on a trip from Denver to the Great Lakes. We didn’t do a tour of the inside but the outside was impressive.

    Reply
    • July 12, 2015 at 7:55 pm
      Permalink

      Did you get a chance to tour Colorado’s capitol in Denver? It’s another beautiful building. Unfortunately, the goldleaf on the dome was being redone while we were there, so I couldn’t get pictures of the golden dome. it was under plastic and surrounded by scaffolding.

      Reply
  • July 12, 2015 at 9:31 pm
    Permalink

    State capitols are all awesome. Each state spent lots to make their capitols represent what they hold dear.

    Reply
  • July 12, 2015 at 10:43 pm
    Permalink

    We’re just a few hours north of Springfield and my girls are finally old enough to get something out of a trip like this. Thanks for the motivation!

    Reply
    • July 13, 2015 at 8:21 am
      Permalink

      It would be fun to take your girls when they are in session. It would make the visit that much more interesting.

      Reply
  • July 13, 2015 at 4:15 am
    Permalink

    What a fascinating building. So beautiful and I really love all the intricate details. It’s amazing how many parliamentary chambers look so similar – those chambers wouldn’t look out of place in an Australian state parliament!

    Reply
    • July 13, 2015 at 8:23 am
      Permalink

      I imagine U.S. chambers were modeled after British parliamentary chambers.

      Reply
  • July 13, 2015 at 2:33 pm
    Permalink

    Wow, so many details! This is very impressive and such a wonderful building.

    Reply
    • July 14, 2015 at 4:23 pm
      Permalink

      Yes, the building really is impressive.

      Reply
  • July 21, 2015 at 2:28 am
    Permalink

    this was very interesting to read and to have a peak inside 🙂

    Reply
    • July 22, 2015 at 8:05 am
      Permalink

      The building is fairly impressive from the outside but not nearly as beautiful as the inside.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *