Minnesota State Capitol

Beautiful state capitol - highly recommend visit. Built in 1905 with recent $310M renovation. Here's a few highlights: the quadriga a chariot pulled by four horses sculpture. The rotunda floor large marble star representing the North Star State on the first floor. Civil war paintings. Senate and House chambers. Rathskeller basement. Public spaces and exhibits on the third floor.
Tours are offered for free weekdays and Saturdays - visit online to confirm hours. There's a visitors parking lot located within two blocks.

It's definitely one of the more elaborate and ornate capitals in the country complete with gold painted ceilings. I do wonder if that is the best use of my tax dollars. It's open to the public free of charge with the exception of a couple of rooms. I happened to arrive on a day where the House Clerk was giving tours which was fun. The Clerk was friendly and welcoming.

While many state capitols have this basic exterior shape, it's what's on the inside that usually differentiates the top half from the bottom half of state Capitol buildings.
There is an impressive collection of busts, painted murals and even a domed ceiling that really seals the deal.

Such a beautiful capitol! We took a guided tour ($5 donation) and learned so much. You can also wander through in your own. Parking was easy too.

I sent them a bunch of mail recently. I called them The Capitol Letters.

A truly spectacular Capitol Building towering over St Paul Minnesota and one of my favourites actually. Looks great from any angle (like my d***) and kind of looks brand-new in some ways. Has some gold around the white, which gives it a little distinctive flavour from some of the others. After all, the famous son Prince had an album and song called Gold. And all that glitters is definitely not Gary.

Beautiful historic capital with rally's and events daily. Lots going on in every corner, democracy at it's finest.

Art and hand sculpted stone and wood at every corner and history everywhere you look.

Go for a day, meet your legislators or take a tour it's not to miss!

While watching a Facebook live stream on a wintery night the beauty of the State Capital shines through. Missing my home state even more.

While visiting St. Paul last month, my husband and I visited the state capitol on a Thursday. We arrived around 12:40 pm and waited for the 1 pm tour (tours begin right in front of the guest services). If you come early for your tour, consider walking around and taking a few photos in the rotunda.

Tours are available every hour (until 2 pm Monday- Saturday and until 3 pm on Sundays) and last about 45 minutes. I would highly encourage checking out one of the free tours (although donations are graciously accepted) because not only do you get to learn some brief history of the capitol, but you also get the opportunity to see The Quadriga (the chariot with the 4 horses on top of the capitol that is covered in gold). It is only on a tour that you would be able to see it.

During our tour, I want to highlight a few interesting things in this review. In the Governor's Reception Room, there are 2 paintings that are missing and placed in another place in the capitol (upstairs on the 3rd floor in room 321). These paintings have been removed due to the controversy that they are causing. One of the paintings (Father Hennepin Discovering The Falls Of St Anthony) is of a priest with a group of Native Americans. There is a woman who is wearing a garment only covering the lower half of her body, exposing her breast. The other painting (Treaty of Traverse des Sioux) is of a treaty signing that is supposed to signify harmony and unity. However many Native Americans view this as promoting the theft of their ancestral land.

Also in this room is a special painting (The Battle Of Nashville by Howard Pyle) in which it is the one and only painting showing a shredded American flag during battle time. This particular painter tried to replicate the exact battle field through photos and interviews of actual soldiers on that day. Many people were upset to see the American flag shredded instead of a full size flag, waving in all of its glory. But the painter had argued that he painted the flag like that to honor the 300 soldiers that fought on that battle field that day, as that was how the flag was described to look like and did not want to dishonor those brave men (as that was one of the deadliest day for the Minnesota soldiers fighting in the Civil War).

On this tour, we were led to the senate and house chambers (or supreme court), from the 2nd floor. From here, this is where the public is actually invited to come for meetings (when they occur). The artwork is just gorgeous, especially with all of the gold coloring.

At the end of tour, we were taken up to the top, at the bottom of the state capitol dome outside to get a closer view of The Quadriga. The 4 horses are supposed to represent the 4 elements of nature of earth, wind, fire and water. The 2 female figures are supposed to be the ones to control the forces of nature. One is supposed to be agriculture and the other is supposed to be industry. Together, the 2 ladies represent civilization. The charioteer is supposed to be prosperity. The pineapple on the hub of the chariot wheels are supposed to be represent hospitality. Being that the chariot is facing forward, it is supposed to depict the future progress of Minnesota, thus this sculpture is called "Progress of the State".

History is pretty cool isn't it?

There are other interesting facts shared on this tour and wished there were more, but 45 minutes just barely scratches the surface.

I thoroughly enjoyed this tour but do want to mention that part of the tour does require a good amount of walking. But there are elevators in case you have trouble walking flights of stairs. However, there is no elevator available to view the golden Quadriaga sculpture.

After our tour, we headed down to the basement because our tour guide suggested checking out the vaulted ceilings and original limestone on the walls. There is a dining hall in the basement, however it was closed during our visit.

Overall, I really enjoyed our visit, especially the history of Minnesota and what was unique specifically to the capitol.

Beautiful building inside and out with plenty of stuff to see !!!! Walk the grounds weather permitting.

Paul the tour guide for President! On a recent trip to Minnesota, I took myself to the state capitol building while my friends went to work. The website was very informative on telling me the best places to park my car! It was pouring down rain so I sprinted sprinted fast from Parking Lot Q. Expectedly, I came in like a wet dog panting so I went to a nice easy to find bathroom to get myself ready for my tour. Paul the tour guide was so informative and shared the rich history of the capitol building with enthusiasm. He took us into the MN Supreme Court and discussed the origins of the phrase "passing the bar." He gave us the meaning of each painting on the wall. Then, we popped up to the State House where he had more fun facts! And just when you think it couldn't get any better, we headed to the State Senate! At each location, Paul talked us through history and the everyday-ness of the people who serve the state of Minnesota. We also had a lovely conversation about why me, a history teacher from Las Vegas, stumbled into his tour group in the first place. We connected on the best places to go hiking! Lastly, my favorite part was a room with two paintings of rather offensive interpretations of Native people of Minnesota. The paintings were removed and placed in this room for deeper consideration, and the viewer is able to read the history of the paintings and is provided with a variety of perspectives on them. This room really is doing the business of studying history and the conversation it provokes is vital for us to be the best lil people we can be. Overall, I had the most extraordinary afternoon in the Minnesota State Capitol. I told all my friends to visit but loved it so much I would even send my enemies. The end!