Colorado State Capitol is Denver’s gold-domed seat of government, where free weekday tours climb 99 steps to a dome observation area with sweeping views of the city and the Front Range.

Designed by architect Elijah E. Myers and built between 1886 and 1901, the Capitol is laid out as a Greek cross and echoes the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Its exterior walls are granite quarried near Gunnison, its floors are Yule marble from Marble, Colorado, and its interior glows with rose onyx found near Beulah — a color of onyx found nowhere else in the world. In 1908, Colorado gold miners donated 200 ounces of gold to gild the dome, which rises 272 feet above the ground. The building still houses the State Senate, the House of Representatives, the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor and the Treasury, so you may see lawmakers at work during the legislative session. Outside, markers on the west steps note Denver’s famous mile-high elevation.

The Capitol is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., except state holidays, and the Visitor Information Desk is staffed weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Free guided tours start on the hour from 10:00 a.m. through 3:00 p.m. on a first-come, first-served basis, and groups of 10 or more should request a reservation. Tours take about an hour and include the dome observation area — a 99-step, stairs-only climb above the third floor; a closed-captioned video tour near the third-floor elevators covers the dome for anyone who skips the climb. Enter from Colfax and Sherman on the north side, or use the accessible ground-level entrance at 14th and Sherman. Everyone passes through security, and weapons are prohibited. Call (303) 866-2604 with questions.

Check tour exceptions, holiday closures and group-tour requests on the Colorado State Capitol tours page for Denver, CO.