Cambridge

Cambridge's Architectural Details

Cambridge is made up of 31 separate colleges, many of them with historic and beautiful buildings. Here are some with features that architecture buffs won't want to miss.

Corpus Christi College. Founded in 1352, the beautiful and serene Corpus Christi College is the longest continuously inhabited college quadrangle in Cambridge. King's Parade, Cambridge, CB2 1RH. 01223/338000. www.corpus.cam.ac.uk.

Jesus College. These buildings incorporate the cloisters from the nunnery of St. Radegund, which existed before the college was founded in 1496. The Victorian restoration of the adjacent chapel building includes some Pre-Raphaelite stained-glass windows and ceiling designs by William Morris. Jesus La., Cambridge, CB5 8BL. 01223/339339. www.jesus.cam.ac.uk.

Magdalene College. Confusingly pronounced "maud-lin," Magdalene College was a lodging for Benedictine monks for more than 100 years before the college was founded in 1542. In the second court, the college's Pepys Library contains the books and desk of the famed 17th-century diarist Samuel Pepys. Magdalene St., Cambridge, CB3 0AG. 01223/332100. www.magd.cam.ac.uk.

Pembroke College. This college has some buildings dating from the 14th century in its first court, next to which Christopher Wren's chapel—his first major commission, completed in 1665—looks like a distinctly modern intrusion by comparison. Trumpington St., Cambridge, CB2 1RF. 01223/338100. www.pem.cam.ac.uk.

Peterhouse College. This is the university's oldest (and smallest) college. Parts of the dining hall date from 1290, although the hall is most notable for powerful, 19th-century stained glass by William Morris and his contemporaries. Trumpington St., Cambridge, CB2 1RD. 01223/338200. r.