The Capitol Building

The Capitol Building is a location situated within Washington, D.C. in the Capital Wasteland in 2277.

Background
Before the Great War, the United States Capitol Building housed the legislative branch of the government of the United States. It is located in Washington, D.C., on top of Capitol Hill at the east end of The Mall. The other side of the Capitol opens onto Seward Square. When discovered by the Lone Wanderer, it is a battle site between super mutants, Talon Company and later, the Enclave.

Layout
The Capitol Building complex is comprised of four areas, two of which can be directly accessed from the Capital Wasteland. The Capitol Building entrance from the west, in The Mall, exits into the Capitol Building west entrance area. The Seward Square entrance from the east is one of two doors into the Capitol Building west entrance.

Upon entering from the west, the other door into the Capitol Building east entrance is immediately ahead and to the right. The entrance to the third area, the Hall of Columns, is in almost exactly the same direction, east-southeast, but about six times further away, past the super mutant behemoth in the rotunda. At the end of the Hall of Columns are two stairwells; the door at the bottom of the second accesses the fourth area, the conference room.

A door in the northwest corner of the conference room area leads back to a room one floor above the southeast corner of the west entrance area, but it is effectively a one-way passageway, as when the player character enters, the floor of the upstairs room caves in and crashes down to the room beneath.

Rotunda
Inside the Capitol rotunda, the Lone Wanderer will initiate a battle between the Talon Company and the super mutants (these battles may differ by level). In the center of the rotunda is a super mutant behemoth. Several other mutants of various sizes are also present. Two super mutant overlords are present with Broken Steel.

The entry-point to the rotunda is on the west, just before the doorway is a passage north, which will lead to an Average locked computer controlling the three Mark VIII defense turrets inside the rotunda. It is set to not attack the Talon mercenaries, but the targeting data can be cleared. These rather formidable turrets can clear the area of hostiles including the behemoth without help from the player character.

Capitol Building West entrance

 * Nikola Tesla and You on a table behind a Hard locked door.
 * U.S. Army: 30 Handy Flamethrower Recipes on a table, southeast part of the Capitol dome.
 * At least two mini nukes and a Fat Man on opponents and/or on shelves inside the dome.

Capitol Building East entrance

 * A Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor is on a desk in a row of four desks separated by screens; it is the one with the fallen filing cabinet. The row of desks is just north of the long hallway running east and west to either end of the area.
 * A pre-War book is located on the fallen cabinet next to the desk with the Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor on it.
 * Nuka-Cola Quantum found in a break room east of the desks with the pre-War book and the Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor.
 * A Lying, Congressional Style can be found south of the Capitol Building east entrance at Seward Square, in a Pulowski Preservation shelter.

Hall of Columns

 * D.C. Journal of Internal Medicine on the upper level. A Talon Company sniper is stationed on a bridge, and the book is on a railing facing south. If it is not there it was likely knocked down in the firefight and can be found on the floor below.
 * Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual behind a Hard locked door accessed from a small hallway found near a turret and a locked turret control terminal in the middle of the hall on the west side.

Conference Hall

 * A Lying, Congressional Style appropriately stashed on a lectern in the congressional chamber.

Appearances
The Capitol Building appears in Fallout 3. It also appears on a book cover in Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas and in the Atomic Command game in Fallout 4. It is mentioned in Fallout 76, and is printed on the front of the Treasury Notes introduced in its update Wastelanders.

Behind the scenes
On May 8, 2007, Bethesda Softworks released a piece of Fallout 3 concept art by Craig Mullins depicting the Capitol after the Great War. This picture appeared then in an apparent terrorist threat, said to be shown in an Islamist forum as a real life would-be scenario, according to media.

Bugs

 * The super mutant behemoth can sometimes spawn inside the small room with the turret control computer next to the rotunda.
 * Although it may well be intended by the developers to prevent players using the behemoth's size to their advantage, the super mutant behemoth cannot be damaged from outside the rotunda room. However, if you use grenades it is still possible to damage it from outside the room.
 * The behemoth can sometimes spawn dead, with the Talon Company mercs shooting at its dead body.
 * The deathclaw outside the Capitol Building inside the deathclaw cage can sometimes spawn outside the cage, which will have dead Enclave soldiers around it.