A Grand Entrance: A $621 million visitor center is the new gateway for tours of the U.S. Capitol

(Sun) - We have built no national temple but the Capitol," U.S. Rep. Rufus Choate of Massachusetts said in 1833. "We consult no common oracle but the Constitution. "Now America's "temple" has a new front door, just in time for the millions of visitors expected to descend on Washington for the presidential inauguration and related festivities. The U.S. Capitol Visitor Center will open Tuesday as the starting point for guests touring the Capitol, the seat of the legislative branch of federal government and the place where Barack Obama will take the oath of office as the 44th president of the United States. Continued

Photo: Library of Congress