One of our first days out in Charlottesville was spent walking the campus of the University of Virginia. The university, opened in 1825, was built according to Jefferson’s vision of an “academical village.” One of its unique characteristics is that it was built to include separate rooms for students rather than dorms. Also, there were pavilions for faculty which included both classrooms and living quarters. The university is still seen as one of Jefferson’s greatest architectural achievements. It currently has about 21,000 students and 2,200 faculty.
The official mascot for the university is the Cavaliers; however, their unofficial nickname (though you see it all over, including on t-shirts and signs at the football stadium) is Wahoos, or Hoos for short based on one of their cheers.
The Rotunda — the focal point of the original “academical village” and the building at the north end of the university’s LawnThe Rotunda from the Lawn — each side of the Lawn is flanked by the faculty pavilions and student rooms from Jefferson’s original plansOld Cabell Hall on the southern end of the Lawn — it includes an auditorium with exceptional acoustics and is used for concerts, lectures, and public eventsOne of the student rooms flanking the Lawn — apparently these are still popular with students even though they do not include lavatoriesOne of many colonnades on campusA plaque for one of UVA’s most distinguished alumniJefferson’s statue along the LawnEdgar Allen Poe’s room from the 1 term that he attended — it is in the Range, another row is student rooms that run parallel to the LawnThe inside of Poe’s room University ChapelHarrison Institute and Special Collections Library (on right) — had a great exhibit on the Declaration of Independence as well as Thomas Chatterton, an English poet who tried to pass off his work as being from the 15th centuryThe main entrance to the football stadium — note the Go Hoos signThe inside of the stadium — no bad seats and it has a capacity of about 60,000University and confederate cemetary on campus — an African American burial grounds lies outside of the cemetary walls without any grave markersTree-lined walkway on campus near the tennis courtsPart of The Dell, an 11 acre landscape reclamation on campus that resurrected a buried stream, creates a storm water management system, an establishes a habitat for wildlifeAn arch from the original gardens that made up part of the land for The Dell
Peckish Travels 
