The Cultural Center's Hidden Tiffany Domes: Free, Unmissed, Extraordinary

At 78 E Washington Street, directly across from Millennium Park, the Chicago Cultural Center was built in 1897 as the city's main public library. Inside are two rooms that rank among the most spectacular interiors in the United States — and are seen by a fraction of the tourists who cross the street to see the Cloud Gate sculpture. The Preston Bradley Hall features a Tiffany glass dome 38 feet in diameter, made of nearly 30,000 pieces of glass in a design of green, gold, and white. The G.A.R. Memorial Hall features a 40-foot Renaissance-style stained-glass dome by Healy and Millet. Both domes are visible only by walking inside. Admission is free. The library's main collection moved out in the 1970s, and by the late 1970s the building had become the Chicago Cultural Center, an exhibition space for free public art shows. Thousands of people visit Millennium Park daily without crossing the street to see what may be Chicago's finest interior.