The five most beautiful universities in the world

The buildings of these institutions are worth including in your travel itinerary if you love architecture and want to see a little more than others. Here are five of the most beautiful universities that impress with scale, history, and appearance

It is a medieval European palace, a modernist campus of the ’60s – each of these universities has its history and architecture, which is interesting to explore even for those long out of college-age.

Royal Holloway, UK

The educational institution in the suburbs of London opened in the late 19th century under Queen Victoria, who immediately gave it the status of a royal college. At that time, it was a college for girls. The building was built in Victorian style and looked more like a castle thanks to the many decorative details on the facade and the general monumentality of the structure. In addition to classrooms and living rooms, a chapel for students is richly decorated with stained-glass windows, frescoes, and carved wood details. The university’s enormous lecture halls are often used for historical series and movies: „Downton Abbey“ „Delirium.“ Royal Holloway has its fine art collection, which the university’s founder began collecting.

University of Salamanca, Spain

This university is the oldest in Spain and one of the oldest globally. Its history goes back to the XII century. Then a Catholic school was opened in the cathedral, which later was granted the status of a university. The academic and administrative buildings of the university were built in the Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. The main attraction of the university is a vast library, which has 160,000 books. The oldest building (the former university hospital) is now the rector’s office. On its facade, tourists try to find the figure of a frog, which, according to legend, brings good luck to all who see it among the many other decorative elements.

Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium

The university’s main building is the former castle of the Dukes of Arenberg, built in late Gothic and Renaissance style at the end of the 14th century. The architectural details of the building reflect the symbolism of the Holy Roman Empire: the spires of the side towers are decorated with two-headed eagles. Over the years, the family house passed to several noble families. But after a while, it came back into the possession of the founders. After World War I, the Belgian government confiscated the castle from the Arenberg family, and in 1921 the Catholic University was opened there.

Barry College, U.S.

Located in Georgia, this private school was built in the early 20th century in the English Neo-Gothic style and occupied 11,000 hectares of land. Gardens, fountains, and swimming pools surround the main campus buildings. The areas away from the academic buildings are open to the public and are designed for biking and hiking. The university building was the site of the famous movies „Remembering the Titans“ with Denzel Washington and Ryan Gosling and „The Stylish Thing“ with Reese Witherspoon.

National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico

The complex of academic buildings of the largest research university in North and South America was built in the mid-fifties of the XX century for a record for those years: the work began in 1950 and ended in 1954. Several young architects participated in the architectural project, and the frescoes for the main buildings were painted by the famous artists Diego Rivera and Alfaro Siqueiros. Since its founding, the campus has become a separate, independent neighborhood in Mexico City with laws, regulations, and even police. Since 2007, the university’s main complex of buildings has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Bio: Steve O’Neil is a writer and translator with a master’s degree in marketing. He has a passion for learning to understand how things work and how events proceed. He also has expertise in various fields, including social media marketing, lifestyle, and data analytics. Now, he is a regular editor and essay writer at some paper writing services, who provide writing help for students.