Minnesota State Capitol

Today our exchange student cluster had a visit to Minnesota State Capitol which was followed with a fun shopping in the Mall of America, St. Paul. I am not gonna tell how much fun we had, but it's gonna be more like a boring explanation about the historical building named Minnesota State Capitol.

 The building is one of the oldest building I have ever visited in my life.

• The Minnesota State Capitol is:

1.    434 feet long.
2.    229 feet wide.
3.    223 feet high.

    The contract for the current capitol was awarded in 1895.
   Construction started in 1896.
   Alexander Ramsey laid the first cornerstone in 1898.
   The dome was completed in 1902.
   The building opened in 1905.

courtesy: planetware

Capitol is Minnesota government building. This is where the state law of Minnesota being debated, written and evaluated. In one of the chamber inside the building there were some paintings that I really love. The chamber has 4 paintings; one tell about Mose when he received the 10 commandment I represent the moral value of a human. the second one was about Confucius, Chinese Philosopher who were writing his thoughts, it represent that law has to be written. The third one was about Greek philosopher who were debating it represent that law has to be evaluated to check its endurance, and reliability. The last one basically tell about the principle of equality before law. In the Court it's not the money or whatever else that matters. Law made to guarantee our rights, with the law it's harder to do something wrong. 
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• The exterior dome is 89 feet in diameter.

• The interior dome is 60 feet in diameter. It has 1-ton crystal light.

        For the very first time in my life I went to visit the Supreme Court within the building. It was basically where all the juries make a final verdict upon another the lower type of court's decision, usually the person who come to the supreme court has been found guilty. It is where the lawyer think whether or not his client's constitutional right could have been violated or if they think the law is not fair enough for his client's case, which later maybe considered to require further analysis.

      Inside the hall there is a Christmas tree, because it's December and everyone seem to decorate everything to celebrate Christmas.

right in the hall, they have eight-points star decoration. We can actually visualize the letter M for Minnesota appear from the star, It symbolizes the spirit of state that remains inside the building since its first built.

at first, we cant really tell how they actually have a bigger picture of this 8-points star on the flour but as we take a look from the second level of the building it becomes clear. We can see how the wall of the building are made from Minnesotan granite which is one of the most abundant type of rocks in St. Paul Minnesota. But they actually use the best material to complete this ambitious project of a man called Cass Gilber, the Architect of the building.

we can see, the stairs over there were made from Paris marble, the pillars were coming from Italy. and the edge of the stairs were made from Minnesotan rocks. They made every detail in the building counts.

we went to the chamber where there was people having a debate in a parliamentary debate system, as an a debaters I was attracted and realize how interesting the debate could be.

if you notice there is a picture of Abraham Lincoln on the wall, as if he was watching how the activities going inside the chamber. He is not the first President of the United States ( actually he's the sixteenth) but he was the first president when Minnesota people could actually vote for him, but according to the history, technically it wasn't all Minnesotan could vote for him. they must have to be white, male, rich or have influence in society, and they have to be born in US, while at the time ( around 1861) most people were immigrant.

To me, that shows how the Democracy in State doesn't come just like that. there is a long bloody process
that shape democracy in the US the way it is.

there is Declaration of Independence text above. The girls, I am not sure what kind of thing she represents, is holding a book which is law, in the other hand she's holding a stick that has eagle on it, that represents The United States of America. I you notice on the back of the lady there is a 8 points star that represent the North Pole Star which is associated to Minnesota. In the chamber it has Greek letter LEX means law. if you could see there is also a Greek sentence written right in the middle of the statue it means ":the words of people is the words of God",  if you wonder why the color look like a golden, you were right gold is everywhere in the building.

If Indonesia is proud enough to have Monas, maybe they should know that the statue was completely made from Gold. hahaha
anyhow, the overall journey was fun and was so awespiring

here are some picture of St. Paul Landscape;