Travel DC with Robert Langdon in Search of the Lost Symbol

Last Updated on March 14, 2024 by Travelationship

If you’re a fan like me of Dan Brown’s thriller “The Lost Symbol” and are in or going to be in the Washington, D.C. area, here is a list of places you can visit from the book. Enjoy!

The Lost Symbol sites with Robert Langdon

Scottish Rite of Freemasonry:

The book opens at 1733 16th St. NW at the House of the Temple in the temple room of the Scottish Rite Masons regional headquarters, a Freemasons branch. You will notice their seal on the cover of the novel. Although it’s alluded to as an exclusive location, free tours are offered at the facility. Check out our in-depth article here to learn more about this temple or the Freemasons.

The Capitol Building:

Robert Langdon, the Harvard symbologist and Brown’s main character, finds a bloody invitation awaiting him in the center of the floor of the Rotunda. The clue was directly beneath the famous fresco, “The Apotheosis of Washington,” which references the most famous of all Masons, George Washington. Brown also muses to a statue of Washington that used to reside in the Capitol Building, where Washington is bare-chested and pointing skyward. Langdon’s clue indicates a hidden chamber in the “SBB,” or sub-sub basement; I have asked while on tour, and the response was, “It doesn’t exist.”

Library of Congress:

Langdon and Solomon find themselves on the run and escape the Library of Congress by riding on conveyor belts that transport books among the library’s three buildings. The belts still exist today, but they haven’t functioned in years. If you want more information on this building, read our article about it here.

National Gallery of Art:

While this is an intended destination, Langdon never actually enters the gallery; instead, he and Solomon use the internet to view the engraving “Melencolia I” by Albrecht Dürer. You can do the same by clicking here.

United States Botanic Garden:

Indeed, it is a strange place to conduct an interrogation, but the CIA security director utilizes this location for just that. With the architect of the Capitol in hand, she brings him to this most humid sanctuary on the Mall: the jungle. The US Botanic Garden is one of the oldest botanic gardens in North America, and the jungle resides at the center of the conservatory.

Freedom Plaza:

The plaza sits at the intersection of 14^th Street and Pennsylvania Ave NW. Langdon and Solomon use one of the three giant bronze medallions at the plaza, which contains the nation’s great seal embedded in it. Some believe the unfinished pyramid and the all-seeing eye on the seal are Masonic symbols; check them out on the back of a one-dollar bill. If you trace a six-pointed star on the seal, the vertices land on the eye, and the letters M-A-S-O-N! Langdon and Solomon use this information as a ploy to evade the CIA.

George Washington Masonic National Memorial:

Continuing the ruse Langdon and Solomon developed, they will examine the Great Seal in Freedom Plaza. They indicate that their next stop must be Alexandria, Virginia, where the George Washington Masonic Memorial lies. This works out well because it is in a different direction than their intended destination. While Robert Langdon never goes to this Masonic Memorial, it doesn’t mean you should skip it. It is a bastion of information on George Washington and the Masons and certainly catches the eye. Take the Blue or Yellow line trains to the “King Street” station, also mentioned in the book.

Metro Center:

Robert Langdon and Solomon need transportation and a convincing way to conceal their movements, so they head for the “Metro Center” stop on the metro line. Once there, instead of choosing the Blue Line, which will take them to “King Street” and the Masonic Memorial, they most likely choose the Red Line, leading them toward the National Cathedral.

Washington National Cathedral and Cathedral College:

A mason of the 33^rd degree awaits Robert at this, the second-largest church in the United States. The dean of the cathedral, who is blind in the book but is not in real life, helps Langdon on his journey. When you are in front of the church, if you look south, you will see the cathedral college, which houses the kitchen where two characters conducted their science experiment.

I hope you enjoyed this journey with me. Please let me know if you have any thoughts or questions.

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