The first madrasa on the site was built by Sultan Ali ibn Yusuf in the mid 14th century. Belonging to the Marinid dynasty, this period saw the expansion of education – and particularly art and literature – across Morocco. The current madrasa dates to the 16th century: it was commissioned by Saadian Sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib.
The madrasa is believed to have housed up to 900 students in its 130 dormitory cells – it was one of the biggest educational centres in North Africa. Look out for the inscription above the gateway, which reads ‘You who enter my door, may your highest hopes be exceeded’. The ornate decoration shows Andalusian and earlier Moroccan influences, and the zelijj tiles are one of the most notable and recognisable features of the building. Some have drawn comparisons with the Alhambra, and there have been suggestions that craftsmen who worked on it were commissioned to work on the madrasa too.
The madrasa finally shut its doors in 1960, and following a refurbishment project, was re-opened to the public in 1982 as a place of historical interest and significance.
The madrasa is one of Marrakech’s most popular attractions, and it’s often busy. The building is something of a maze: it centres around the main courtyard, and everything pretty much stems off from there. As with many Islamic buildings, the main courtyard has a reflective pool in its centre.
The student dormitories are clustered around the courtyard on the first and second floors: they’re open for exploring but watch your head and avoid them if you’re claustrophobic as they’re small and cramped. Many of them would have had multiple students sharing in order to accommodate everyone
Keep your eyes peeled for various Quranic inscriptions (and some praising Sultan Abdullah) across the building.
The madrasa is normally open daily – visit early or late to avoid the worst of the crowds. The madrasa was undergoing restoration work until spring 2020 – it’s unclear precisely when it will re-open.
The madrasa is on Place Ben Youssef, next to Ben Youssef Mosque and close to the Museum de Marrakech. The medina area is hard to navigate by anything other than foot given its winding streets, but it’s not hard to locate. If you’re coming from further afield, get a taxi to drop you on Rue Sid Abd El Aziz.
]]>The college is generally said to have been founded by King Henry VIII in 1546, but the original plans for it were drawn up by Thomas Wolsey in 1525, whilst at the zenith of his career. Wolsey had intended to call the college Cardinal College, and had begun building on lands that originally belonged to the Priory of St Frideswide, using funds from the dissolution of other priories. Following his fall from grace in 1529, the partly built college was abandoned, until it was refounded by Henry VIII as Christ Church College, nearly 20 years later: he simultaneously founded Trinity College Cambridge, Christ Church’s sister college the same year.
During the English Civil War, King Charles I moved his court to Oxford, and held his Parliament in Christ Church’s Great Hall throughout his time there in the 1640s. The famous Tom Quad was finished during the 1660s, following the restoration of Charles II to the English throne. Tom Tower was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the 1680s. At the centre of the quad stands an ornamental pond with a statue of Mercury in the centre: walking on Tom Quad’s grass or paddling in the fountain results in heavy fines for undergraduates.
Christ Church has long had associations with people of influence: 13 of Britain’s Prime Ministers have been educated at Christ Church, including William Gladstone. An assortment of famous intellectuals have taught at Christ Church, including the philosopher John Locke, and Lewis Carroll, who wrote Alice in Wonderland during his tenure at Christ Church.
In more recent years, the college has appeared in novels such as Brideshead Revisited and Zuleika Dobson, and shot to fame as one of the locations used as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films and in Philip Pulman’s The Northern Lights. The first female students matriculated at Christ Church in 1980.
The college remains part of the university, and has around 650 students at any one time. Christ Church is open to visitors every day – although only afternoons on Sundays – but given it is still very much a working academic institution, areas can be shut with little or no notice. Closures are usually listed a few days in advance on the college website – it’s worth checking if you’ve got your heart set on a visit.
In the summer, there can be long queues to enter. Expect students to be somewhat harried in term time and respect the fact that they do need to get around, and that their rooms are often just off the tourist route – respect their privacy and resist the urge to have a nose around anywhere that’s marked ‘No entry’.
G&Ds, Oxford’s most famous ice cream shop, is just across St Aldates. Make sure to pay it a visit!
Christ Church is in the centre of Oxford – enter via St Aldates. The city centre gets notoriously snarled and parking is scarce: you’re best off using the Park & Ride – several of the buses stop on St Aldates so it’s extremely convenient. Otherwise, they stop on the High Street, which is a 5-10 minute walk from the college.
Trains run regularly to and from London, Bristol and the North: it’s about a 15 minute walk from the station to Christ Church.
]]>Dissatisfied with Italian scholars, in 1555 Beccaddeli the bishop of Dubrovnik sought the help of the newly founded Jesuit order (Society of Jesus) to open a college in the city. The Jesuits had been the first religious order to operate colleges, incorporating Renaissance humanism into teaching Catholic thought. The Collegium Ragusinum was to be the first educational institution in Dubrovnik, eventually excelling in the natural sciences and arts.
It was not until 1653 that the Jesuit record Gianbattista Canauli drew up plans to alter the entire urban structure of the city’s oldest suburb to accommodate the college and church.
Despite demolishing housing to provide space, the building project was delayed due to the 1667 earthquake that levelled much of Dubrovnik. By the end of the century the project resumed with renowned Jesuit artist, Iganzio Pozzo, finalising the plans.
The Jesuits highly encouraged the arts, celebrating the use of decoration in Catholic devotion. Built in the flamboyant Baroque style, the church was completed in 1725. Dubrovnik had long been a Roman Cardinal Protectorate, so the building of this ostentatious church signalled the city’s status as both fashionable and deeply religious.
Make a pilgrimage to the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola in the Poljana Ruđera Boškovića Square to admire Croatia’s finest example of Baroque design. Inside, you can see Gaetano Garcia’s exquisite frescoes depicting the life of the church’s namesake, Ignatius of Loyola. The church also features the oldest bell in Dubrovnik, cast in 1355 by Viventius and his son Viator.
For Game of Thrones fans, transport yourself to Westeros by climbing the famous Baroque staircase in front of the church, recognisable for its role in the HBO series. Alternatively, you can catch one of the daily English masses at 11am, April to November, or simply enjoy the church’s reverence.
Located in Dubrovnik’s pedestrianised Old Town, the church is inaccessible by car. You can find roadside parking outside the Old Town walls. Via public transport, bus lines 1A, 1B, 3 or 8 from the main bus station and port take you to stop Iza Grada, a 9-minute walk to the church.
]]>Like the Eiffel Tower in Paris or Rome’s Colosseum, it is such an iconic and immediately recognisable building in Cambridge it’s used around the world as a symbol for the entire city.
It was built between 1446 and 1515 by a succession of English Kings starting with Henry VI who laid the foundation stone and intended his chapel to be without equal in beauty and size. Interestingly for such a famous and important building, the architect remains a matter of conjecture. Reginald Ely was commissioned as the head stone mason and Nicholas Close (latterly Bishop of Carlisle) was recorded as ‘surveyor’ which is generally accepted to mean what we call an architect today.
When the Wars of the Roses broke out in 1455, building continued with Henry’s patronage but the £1,000 which was granted annually from the Duchy of Lancaster eventually dried up, presumably they needed the money to fight the House of York. Between Henry’s arrest in 1461 and subsequent murder a decade later and the death of his successor Edward IV in 1483, little building was done but it was picked up by Richard III.
Often depicted as a gruesome hunchback, he enthused about the project to such an extent that he provided materials and imprisoned ‘anyone who opposed or delayed’. The chapel was finally completed by Tudor kings Henry VII and Henry VIII, the latter was responsible for the Renaissance rood screen (to celebrate his marriage to Anne Boleyn) and most of the chapel’s woodwork. Famous 20th century art and architecture scholar Sir Nikolaus Pevsner called the screen ‘the most exquisite piece of Italian decoration surviving in England.’
The 12 windows on each side are, like the building itself, amongst the finest examples in the world. Most are by Flemish craftsmen and date from 1515 to 1531 but amongst so many utterly spectacular elements of King’s College Chapel arguably the most jaw-dropping is the world’s largest fan vaulted ceiling.
Decorated with beautifully carved bosses of wood and stone featuring heraldic beasts, coats of arms and various Tudor motifs, the ceiling was created in just three years (1512 – 1515) by John Wastell, one of the most skilled masons of the age.
The chapel has been added to over the centuries including Peter the Carver’s choir stalls in the 17th century and Rubens’ 1634 ‘Adoration of the Magi’ overlooks the high altar.
The chapel is a working place of worship today, and remains a popular tourist destination in Cambridge. The majority of visits are self-guided: allow a couple of hours to take in all the information, visual beauty and the grounds. Exhibitions within the chapel detail the history of King’s College itself.
Blue Badge guided tours take place semi-regularly but must be booked in advance: check out the website in order to do so. The chapel is open from Tuesday through until Saturday, with relatively limited hours: normally 10:30-15:00.
The world famous King’s College Choir finds its home here, and on the off chance you manage to attend a service or hear a rehearsal, you’ll be glad you did!
King’s is in central Cambridge, close to the river. Enter via King’s Parade. Parking in the city centre is limited: it’s recommended you use public transport to get around, or the Park & Ride if you’re driving. King’s is about a 20 minute walk from Cambridge Station.
]]>The Painted Hall boasts one of the most spectacular Baroque interiors in Europe. The incredible ceiling and wall decorations were conceived and executed by British artist Sir James Thornhill. The surfaces of the hall are covered in striking paintings depicting 200 figures including kings, queens and mythological creatures.
Known as ‘Britain’s Sistine Chapel’, the project took nineteen years from the start of the commission to its completion in 1726. Thornhill’s scheme earned him a knighthood and payment of £6,685.
The painting on the ceiling of the Lower Hall is a complex allegorical scene. It was designed to show the victory of Protestantism, depicted by William and Mary in England, over Catholicism, shown by Louis XIV in France. The theme is Peace and Liberty triumphing over Tyranny, and numerous mythological characters support this theme. In keeping with the location, the painting also incorporates nautical motifs, including ships, anchors and flags. Thornhill’s use of illusionistic architecture and steep perspective was inspired by Italian baroque painting.
The Upper Hall continues the theme with paintings celebrating the Protestant succession via Queen Anne and then George I. The large painting on the West Wall shows King George with his children and numerous grandchildren, who would presumably save the throne from any claim by Europe’s Catholic rulers. An interesting omission from the picture is the king’s wife, Sophia, who never came to England nor became queen.
The Painted Hall reopened in 2019, following a two year long, award-winning conservation project and is now open for visits, tours and hire.
There is an entrance charge for the Painted Hall. Audio tours and children’s activities are available. It is one of London’s most popular attractions welcoming over a million visitors each year. The Old Royal Naval College is also a very popular filming location, The Crown, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Les Misérables are just a few of the blockbusters filmed here in recent years
The Old Royal Naval College is in the heart of the Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage site. Cutty Sark DLR station is only 3 minutes walk away and Greenwich train station is also nearby. Visitors can also take the bus, tube or travel by boat.
]]>The university was founded in 1845 by Queen Victoria, as part of a wider institution known as the Queen’s University of Ireland, which aimed to encourage Catholics and Presbyterians into higher education – Ireland’s existing university, Trinity College Dublin, was an almost exclusively Anglican institution. Queen’s Belfast had its roots in the older Belfast Academical Institution.
The heart of the university – the Lanyon Building – was designed by the English architect Sir Charles Lanyon, and remains synonymous with the university to this day. Lanyon also designed multiple other iconic buildings in Belfast, including Belfast Castle and the Crumlin Road Gaol. The Lanyon Building is modelled on Magdalen College Oxford, and is Gothic Tudor in design, mimicking the much older universities of Oxford and Cambridge architecturally. When Queen’s opened, it had 195 students and 23 professors.
The Irish Universities Act (1908) split the Queen’s University of Ireland into Queen’s Belfast and the National University of Ireland. By this point, Queen’s had around 600 students, mainly from the counties of Ulster.
The university steadily grew throughout the 20th century: major benefactors like William Whitla helped expand the university and turn it into an increasingly prestigious institution. Queen’s was one of 8 UK universities to hold a seat in Parliament until the practice was abolished in 1950.
The university remains a working academic institution, with around 23,000 students attending. Visitors should start at the Welcome Centre – regular exhibitions are held here, and it’s the best place to get up to date information about where you can or can’t see. Guided campus tours are available on request, although these tend to be reserved for larger groups.
The Lynn Building is particularly worthy seeing if you get the chance: originally designed as the university’s main library, it’s a vibrant example of Ruskinian Gothic architecture.
The university is located in the Queen’s Quarter, slightly south of the centre of Belfast. The main entrance, via the Lanyon Building, can be found on Queen’s Road. There’s limited residential parking in the area. Buses 8, 22, 93, 522 and 524 all stop opposite the entrance. The nearest station is Botanic, a 10 minute walk away, which can be reached from Bangor and elsewhere in and around Belfast.
]]>Today, the Registan is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Samarkand.
Over the centuries, Samarkand was occupied by various different peoples, including being ravaged by Genghis Khan. However, it was under the Mongol warrior leader Timur the Lame, known as Tamerlame who lived between 1369 and 1405, that some of the city’s most beautiful surviving structures including Registan were constructed.
Now made up of 3 ornate madrassahs – Islamic college – facing onto a central courtyard, Registan was the medieval centre of Samarkand. Of these symmetrical buildings, each of which is elaborately adorned with glazed clay tiles, the Ulugh Beg Madrassah is the oldest and dates back to 1420.
The other 2 madrassahs, Sher-Dor and Tillya-Kori, were built in the 17th century under the rule of Yalangtush Bakhodur. However, by this time Samarkand had lost much of its previous wealth and was in decline. The Soviets revived the square with party rallies, mass veil burnings and trials of counter-revolutionaries. The new occupiers also restored much of the crumbling Registan.
Open between 9am and 6pm, the Registan of Samarkand remains a beautiful symbol of Samarkand’s prosperity as a city along the Silk Road, and is spectacularly lit up at night. Entry to the complex costs around 6 US Dollars and the madrassahs are now filled with souvenir shops where you can grab a memento.
Within the centre of Samarkand, just off the M37, the Registan and is a short drive from Samarkand’s International Airport. Otherwise, you can get buses 122, 30, 54, 77, 92 or 99 that pass near Registan.
]]>The full name of the College – ‘The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge’ – is known more familiarly as St John’s.
The site of what is now the College was once home to a monastic house, the ‘Hospital of St John’, since the early 13th century. By the start of the 16th century, this had fallen into disrepair, and Bishop John Fisher, Chancellor of the University and a friend of Lady Margaret Beaufort, persuaded her to build a college in its place.
Although Lady Margaret died in 1509, the foundation of the College went ahead two years later in 1511, thanks to the endeavours of Bishop Fisher who worked to release the necessary funding from her estate. Originally, all the accommodation and facilities were focused around a single court, and by 1545, had 152 Fellows and scholars.
The College gradually expanded, with Second Court built in 1599-1601, and the Old Library added in 1624-8. By the mid-19th century, the College had expanded across the River Cam, with the construction in 1826-31 of its famous Bridge of Sighs to New Court.
The famous Chapel of St John’s College in the first of 11 courts was designed by George Gilbert Scott in 1863-9 (inspired from the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris) and constructed between 1866-1869 to replace a smaller, medieval chapel. The tower is 50 metres high, the tallest structure in Cambridge, and can be climbed via a small door on First Court. It contains 15th century glass and numerous paintings and panelling from 1516, salvaged from the old chapel.
During the 20th century, more courts were added on the north side of the College, and further to the west across the river Cam. The refurbished Old Divinity School opened in 2012. Over the centuries, the pattern of studies developed – originally focused on the liberal arts, theology, and biblical languages, St John’s gradually became a centre for studying classics and mathematics, and in the 20th century for other subjects in humanities, medicine and science.
St John’s College has a long-standing rivalry with neighbouring Trinity College, stemming from Henry VIII (Trinity College’s founder) executing Saint John Fisher (who was responsible for the foundation of St. John’s).
The bridge connecting Third Court to New Court is commonly known as the Bridge of Sighs, and is one of the most photographed buildings in Cambridge. It is a single-span stone bridge with a highly decorative Neo-Gothic covered footwalk over the top, with traceried openings. From the three bay arcade at the East end you can sometimes see rowers from the Boat Club practicing for the famous races on the Cam river.
Famous alumni include Prime Ministers Lord Palmerston and Manmohan Singh of India; equality campaigner William Wilberforce; writers such as William Wordsworth and Douglas Adams; 10 Nobel Prize winners; film and television personalities including Hugh Dennis and Derek Jacobi, and sportspeople such as Rob Andrew to name a few.
St John’s is a 30 minute walk and 10 minute cycle from Cambridge’s central train station – accessible from London via either Kings Cross or Liverpool Street stations.
Space is limited in the College’s car parks, so if arriving by car, use the public multi-storey car park in Park Street, adjacent to the College. (Take the A1309 Milton Road south at junction 33 of the A14, then follow signs to Cambridge. Once you’ve crossed the River Cam, turn right onto Newmarket Road and then turn onto Jesus Lane, then right into Park Street).
Cambridge also operates a handy ‘Park & Ride’ service – the Madingley Road and Newmarket Road sites’ bus route passes just outside the College.
]]>The university was founded by a charter (a papal bull) from Pope Nicholas V, at the suggestion of King James II. This gave Bishop William Turnbull, a University of St Andrews graduate, permission to add a university to the city’s Cathedral. Teaching later moved to nearby Rottenrow, in a building known as the ‘Auld Pedagogy’, and the university was later given 13 acres of land belonging to the Black Friars on High Street by Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1563.
The university has been without its original Bull (the authority by which the university awards degrees) since the mid-16th century after Chancellor Archbishop James Beaton fled to France in 1560 during the Scottish Reformation, taking many archives and valuables from the cathedral and university with him for safe-keeping. Although the university’s Mace was returned in 1590, the archives are thought to have gone astray during the French Revolution.
Along with the universities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and St Andrews, the university was part of the Scottish Enlightenment during the 18th century.
Scotland’s first female medical graduates completed their degrees there in 1894 and the world’s first ultrasound images of a foetus were published by Glasgow Professor Ian Donald in 1958.
Famous alumni include James Wilson (a US founding father), scientist and engineer Lord Kelvin, engineer James Watt, the father of economics Adam Smith, Scottish devolution architect Donald Dewar and pioneer of television, John Logie Baird – not to mention 2 Prime Ministers and Scotland’s inaugural First Minister.
Originally located in the city’s High Street, since 1870, the university’s main campus has been at Gilmorehill in the City’s West End. A number of additional university buildings are located elsewhere, and can be visited by the public, including the Chapel, built in 1929 as a memorial to students who died in both World Wars.
Scotland’s oldest museum, the Hunterian Museum (founded in 1807) is also part of the university. It features an array of objects including dinosaur bones, medical instruments, ancient tools, and Roman artefacts from the Antonine Wall.
The Hunterian Art Gallery beside the university library hosts one of the finest public art collections in Scotland, including the single largest number of works by celebrated Glasgow architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh. It’s also home to The Mackintosh House, which exhibits some of the interiors of Mackintosh’s home that was demolished in the 1960s.
Glasgow University is rated among the top 10 universities in the UK and in the top 100 in the world.
The university is a 10-minute walk from Kelvingrove Park, and is easy to get to from nearly anywhere in Glasgow thanks to the city’s bus and subway networks.
]]>Trinity was founded in 1592 on the orders of Queen Elizabeth I, as a sister university to those at Oxford and Cambridge. The university was associated with the Protestant ascendancy in Ireland (and continues to be so today).
Large building projects were undertaken at Trinity in the 18th and 19th centuries, including many of the buildings around the Front Quad, which house students and the department of music today.
The red bricked Rubrics building at the back of the quad is the oldest original building at Trinity, dating to the 17th century. It’s now used for accommodation: the plumbing remains out dated and if you visit early on a Saturday or Sunday morning, you might spot tutors and students heading out, towel in hand, to access the building’s limited shower supply.
The Campanile (bell tower) in the centre of the square remains one of Trinity’s iconic vistas. According to legend, students who walk under the tower whilst the bell tolls will never graduate. Carved around the campanile are figures representing the four pillars of academia: Divinity, Law, Science and Medicine.
The Old Library was begun in 1712 and finished around 30 years later: it remains an impressive site, although students will tell you it’s mostly for display rather than research. Contrary to popular rumour, Harry Potter was not filmed there – although some say J. K. Rowling took inspiration from it.
The library also houses the Book of Kells, an 8th century illustrated manuscript and Trinity’s prized possession. The book is beautifully illustrated, and the colours remain remarkably vivid: tracing suggests they came from as far afield as Spain and Iran, highlighting the effort and care that went into its production.
Trinity remains Ireland’s most prestigious university, and competition for places is tough. It has around 18,000 students: around 600 of them live on campus still. The campus is often busy at weekends and peak hours during the week: go once the students have left (5pm or so) to enjoy it more peacefully.
The college grounds are open for the public to wander round at leisure: there is an admission fee to the Book of Kells, and the official student-run tour of Trinity meets by the Front Gate. The buildings are closed to the public, however, so you will not be able to glimpse inside.
Despite its turbulent history, the book remains in excellent condition, and two of the four gospels of which it comprises are on display at any one time. Some find the book itself slightly underwhelming given its status as a national treasure, but it’s worth remembering that as a product of its time, it is quite remarkable (as is its condition today).
Trinity is easy to reach: just south of the Liffey, it lies at the top of Grafton Street. The campus is enclosed and accessible through multiple gates, depending on your direction of approach. The nearest Luas stop is Trinity.
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