Rotunda is the center of the village and is a half-scale interpretation of the Pantheon in Rome. On two sides of the Rotunda you can see a row of pavillions. The top floors of the Pavillions were for the faculty and the ground-level for the classrooms. It is suprising that some senior faculty still live in the Pavillions with their families.

You can explore it by yourself of attend a free tour of Rotunda and The Gardens Walking Tour offered by the The University of Virginia at nearly every hour (except for lunch break between noon and 2pm) from 10am to 4pm.

We didn''t take the tour but explored it by ourselves a couple of times. What impressed me most was how kind the students were. We got lost near the lawn and without asking for help a student approached us and told us the location of the building. Later that night we were walking and trying to peek into the rooms where the students were staying, we saw a room with the light on and it was Edgar Allen Poe''s room. A student passed by us when we were looking inside and he pressed on button which activated a prerecorded information on Edgar Allen Poe''s days in the UVA. We wouldn''t know about the button unless the kind student showed us. The gentilmanship still rules on the grounds of the University of Virginia centuries later after its foundation by Thomas Jefferson.

At the far end is the majestic Rotunda, designed by Jefferson and based on the Parthenon, which he meant to be used as a library. Stand on the Rotunda steps and look out down the lawn, with the Lawn rooms and the Pavilions lining the edge. The Pavilions were meant to be houses for the professors, and the students would live in the Lawn rooms, so that they could mix and discuss classes and issues of the day. The Pavilions are joined by a walkway, which was supposed to be so that the professors and their families could interact without running into the students, for some quiet time. There are tours that show you the inside of the Rotunda, times vary.

Several famous people have lived on the Lawn, including Ralph Sampson and Edgar Allen Poe. Look out at night, however, because it's a UVA tradition to 'streak' the Lawn during your time there. If you see a nude person run by, don't be frightened.

The best way to see the Lawn is to take a University-guided tour, so you can learn all the neat stories about the Lawn rooms and Jefferson himself, but just to walk down the lawn in quiet reflection is an amazing experience.

Here are some of the stories and tricks I actually remember from my college days.

1. At night, if you sit on the steps of the Rotunda and lie backwards, it looks like a dark, quiet river. (a little bit of alcohol helps this effect along)

2. While students apply to live in the Lawn rooms, and they usually go to those with the best resumes (editor in cheif of the newspaper, etc.) they give up a bit of luxury. There are fireplaces in the rooms, but no showers. To shower, they don their robes and slippers and walk outside and down the stairs to the communal showers. (even in the cold.)

3. When streaking the lawn, the streaker removes his clothes and hands them to a trusted friend (leaving them is perilous, you might not get them back.) The object is to start at the Rotunda, run all the way down to the statue of Homer, kiss his butt, and run back. Careful to avoid policemen, lawn residents with flashlights, and the occasional chains that cross the lawn. One friend of mine tripped and broke his leg because of a chain!