The Virginia Capitol

Welcome! The Virginia State Capitol was designed in 1785 by Thomas Jefferson with help from Charles-Louis Clérisseau while Jefferson was serving as U.S. Minister to France. The Virginia General Assembly occupied the Capitol in 1788 and members of the Virginia executive and judicial branches moved into the building in 1789. It is the first American State Capitol designed after the Revolutionary War and the first public building in the New World to be constructed in the form of a classical Roman temple. The east wing for the House of Delegates and the west wing for the Senate of Virginia were opened in 1906 and remain in use by lawmakers today. The Virginia State Capitol is a National Historic Landmark, has been nominated for inclusion on the World Heritage List, is on the Virginia Landmarks Register and on the National Register of Historic Places.