DC Architecture & Design by Metro

Mushrooms once grew in this hall. In the 1970s the roof had a hole big enough to see daylight through, and a federally funded "National Visitor Center" had carved a sunken pit into the floor for a slideshow nobody wanted — locals called it "the hole," and it nearly bankrupted the whole place before the 1988 restoration buried that embarrassment under new marble. Now look up. Daniel Burnham modeled this on the Baths of Diocletian, and 70 pounds of gold leaf line that 96-foot barrel vault. Ringing the main hall, 36 Roman legionnaires stand guard — originally sculpted nude, until Congress clutched its pearls and ordered shields added to cover the indelicate bits. They're still holding them, eternally modest. Here's the surprise most people miss: the sculptor angled each shield to hide the anatomy from the floor below, so from up on the balcony you can sometimes catch what Congress tried to censor.