The Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines is the seat of the Iowa General Assembly. Architects John C. Cochrane and Alfred H. Piquenard designed it in the Renaissance Revival style. The cornerstone was laid on November 23, 1871, and the building was dedicated on January 17, 1884. It was completed in 1886 at a final cost of $2,873,294.59.
The central dome is covered with 23-carat gold leaf and rises to a finial 275 feet above the ground floor. The building has five domes, which makes it the only five-domed capitol in the country. The rotunda beneath the dome is 80 feet in diameter.
A fire on January 4, 1904, damaged the Supreme Court and House areas. The building uses Iowa limestone, sandstone and granite, along with 29 types of marble. Exterior restoration ran from 1983 to 2001 at a cost of $41 million.
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