Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia, and designed what he called an 'Academical Village' embodying the spirit of communal living and learning. At the heart of this 'village' is the Lawn, a large gently sloping grassed field fringed by columned pavilions, student rooms, the Standford White–designed Old Cabell Hall (1898) and Jefferson's famous Rotunda, modelled on Rome's Pantheon. Together, the original neoclassical and Palladian-style university buildings and Jefferson's Monticello comprise a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Free, student-led guided tours (www.uvaguides.org) of the original university and lawn depart daily from the Rotunda at 10am, 11am and 2pm during the school year (September to April).
