America: The land of the free and the land of self-determination. You needn’t have a deep understanding of history to think of democracy the moment you spot a white domed building on Capitol Hill and through movies and postcards, the United States Capitol is a universal symbol of representative democracy.

Descending into the visitor center below ground, you’d be startled by the sheer number of visitors milling around from school going children to fellow curious tourists. The Capitol’s Exhibition Hall is the only area in the world to retell how the US Congress and Capitol Hill came to be. Its National Statuary Hall is filled with 100 figures of gleaming marble in black and white, burnished bronze fashioned to represent each of the states and more. The Capitol’s history unfolds on more than just paper through the art of Constantino Brumidi in the Halls of the Senate as well as the glowing ascent of George Washington from the eye of the ceiling at Capitol Dome through the Apotheosis of George Washington. Each panel brings you a step further in understanding how America grew to become a bastion of democracy and freedom today.