Michigan's State Capitol, completed in 1879, is one of the finest examples of Victorian painted interior decoration in the United States. The exterior — a tall white-stone dome modelled on the U.S. Capitol — is restrained, but the interior is a riot of stencilled colour: nine acres of hand-painted surfaces, more than 90,000 square feet of decoration, all faithfully restored in the 1990s.
Free guided tours run on the hour Monday through Saturday and are worth the time even for non-Americans. The tour climbs the central rotunda, visits the legislative chambers, and points out the original 1879 chandeliers, the Civil War battle flag collection, and the curiously decorated former Supreme Court chamber. Allow about 45 minutes.