United States Capitol

This guide to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. starts with a burial chamber two floors below the rotunda, designed by architect William Thornton for one very specific occupant who never moved in. It follows George Washington's death and his wishes for a quiet grave at Mount Vernon, then a break-in at the family's vault in 1830 that shook his descendants. Congress, the guide notes, had hoped to move the body here in time for the hundredth anniversary of Washington's birth.