File:Rhode Island State House Ii (234165469).jpeg

500px provided description: Rhode Island's State House was designed by architects McKim, Mead & White in the neoclassical style. It features the fourth largest self-supporting marble dome in the world (behind St. Peter?s in Vatican City, the Minnesota State Capitol and the Taj Mahal). It was built between 1895 and 1904 using 327,000 cubic feet of white Georgia marble, 15,000,000 bricks and 1,309 tons of iron floor beams.

From its founding in 1663, Rhode Island was a leader in granting religious freedom to its citizens and establishing separation of church and state. Inscribed on the State House facade is the following passage from the original colonial charter: "To hold forth a lively experiment that a most flourishing civil state may stand and best be maintained with full liberty in religious concernments." Atop the dome is a bronze statue known as "The Independent Man". Rogues' Island was the first colony to declare independence from Great Britain on May 4th, 1776. [#city ,#architecture ,#building ,#black and white ,#white ,#usa ,#dome ,#state ,#united states ,#marble ,#capitol ,#wide angle ,#government ,#new england ,#ri ,#providence ,#rhode island ,#neoclassical]