The Not so Secret Gardens of UVA

Sunday May 4, 2014
Charlottesville Virginia

 

 

Getting there.

Many people come from all over the world to Charlottesville to visit Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello, and the University of Virginia which he founded and designed.  I worked there for 26 years and I can say without a doubt that the best part of it was spending my lunch time in the University’s Pavilion Gardens.   It has been nearly 5 years since I was last there so this morning I set out early to see how lovely they were looking this spring.

I left from Winnona and walked the about a mile through the neighborhoods getting increasingly near the university.  There are some wonderful old homes along the walk

 

 

 

I took lots of pictures of them but this one house has always been my favorite.  There is just something about it.

 

Many of the houses have lovely walls and gates around them.

 

The Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church was looking lovely with it’s simple spire against the blue sky and its matching blue door.  During the year the church has a portable indoor labyrinth that they set out about once a month for anyone to come and walk by candlelight and often to the accompaniment of harp music.  A truly wonderful experience.  Or you can come anytime and walk the outdoor labyrinth in the yard behind the building.

 

 

 

 

The Heart of Mr. Jefferson’s University.

All of these things are on Rugby Road which eventually dead ends into the original section of the University built by Jefferson with its keystone building, The Rotunda.  The historical plaque is very interesting so rather than repeat it, I’ve put it here for you to read. 

 

 

 

This is the front of the building visible as you drive down University Avenue.  It is a one half scale copy of the Pantheon in brick with white columns and originally held the University’s library.  Today it is used for special functions and can be toured.

 

 

 

A statue of the founder in front.  Notice the building’s “wings”.

 

The lovely little University chapel is at a distance to the right of the Rotunda and is a very popular place for weddings.  I’ve heard you have to book more than a year in advance.  Guess that makes for a long engagement.   The Gothic Revival style chapel is a later edition dedicated in 1889.

 

 

 

Remember those “wings” well here they are.  Lovely sheltered walk ways to take you from one part of the “Academical Village” to the other during inclimate weather, including snow.

 

 

 

 

In Spring a young person’s fancy turns to……….   There are LOTS of benches here as you will soon see.

 

 

I walk through the wings and past the young couple whose bench is right beside the garden walls.  I enter the first of the not so secret gardens.

 

 

The Map

If you look at the map below and find the Rotunda, you will see the chapel off to the left in this diagram of the village facing University Avenue which is where I have come from.

The Pavilion Gardens, as they are known, are behind each of the 10 Pavilions which housed the 10 faculty at the opening of the University.  Each professor lived on the upper floor and taught on the first floor.  The Pavilions were connected by 54 student rooms.  Everything is connected by covered walkways and faces “the lawn” which is just what you would expect. 

 

 

The Lawn

 

In the pictures below,  you can see the lawn and the Pavilions stair stepping down on either side as well as the back of the Rotunda facing the lawn.  It is really a beautiful design.

There are a total of 206 columns surrounding the Lawn: 16 on The Rotunda, 38 on the Pavilions, 152 on the walkways. The columns are of varying orders according to the formality and usage of the space, with Corinthian columns on the exterior of the Rotunda giving way to Doric, Ionic, and Composite orders inside; Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian on each of the pavilions; and a relatively humble Tuscan colonnade along the Lawn walkways

 

 

Each of the Pavilions is done in a different style of classical architecture all the better to instruct the students.   In the picture below you can sort of see the two story pavilions which are connected by single story student rooms all fronted by the columned walkways.

 

 

Many visitors to the grounds (that’s what the campus is known as here) don’t realize that the gardens behind each pavilion, in which there are still faculty living, are open to the public.  I don’t believe there is a regular tour of the gardens.  You just walk to the back of the pavilions and look for a door in the walls.   Secret gardens.  So wonderful.

Back to the map.   I begin my morning stroll in the Gardens behind Pavilion #1 and work my all the way down to garden #9, cross over the lawn, at which point I took the pictures above and begin again at garden #10, working my way back up to #2.

I’m not going to take you through garden by garden.  (I can hear you breathing a sigh of relief).  They are all unique and beautiful but I am going to show you the recurring features of the gardens in a mix of pictures I took on this glorious Sunday morning.

 

The Flowers. 

To say the flowering trees, bushes, bulbs and flowers are fantastic is such an understatement.   They were in profusion this morning.  Here is just a small sample of the pictures I took and the beauty that was there.    Benches of every shape and design are provided for quiet contemplation, reading, gazing dumbfounded at the beauty or doing your homework.   The trees are huge and labeled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gates

Most of the gardens are on two tiers, an upper area near the Pavilion and a lower one which usually has a gate leading out.  But there are some gates that lead into other gardens or across lanes into a matching gate, or not.  It is a bit like a maze when you first are visiting.  Just too much fun.  Like the gardens, the gates are all unique.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you go through the gates, you find yourself in a magical land of paths winding through the beauty.  I usually spent my lunch time in a different garden each day and in all seasons and weathers.   But that will have to wait for Part II.   I really do hate to break this magical morning into two parts but I’ve put in too many pictures already. 

Perhaps I should ask you, do you prefer one GIANT post, 2 big posts or three 20 picture posts on those occasions when I take hundreds of pictures and spend way too much time cutting it down to 75.

This is such a unique place I don’t know how to tell the story without showing at least a little of the variety here.   Those who are long time followers might remember my numerous and detailed posts from Williamsburg last fall.  Similar problem.  Such a GREAT PLACE.