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[edit] Pamphlet Data
Here is the text of a pamphlet I received from the info desk:
From a pamphlet: "THE NATIONALITY ROOMS at the University of Pittsburgh"
NATIONALITY ROOMS Classrooms that Teach A visit to the Nationality Rooms in the University of Pittsburgh's monumental Cathedral of Leaning will take you around the world in 90 minutes.
THese internationally famous rooms are gifts to the University from the city's ethnic communities. Of museum quality, often designed bhy architects abroad, 26 rooms adapt Classical, Byzantine, Romanesque, Baroque, Renaissance, Tudor, Empire, Minka, and folk styles to recreate cultural periods prior o 1787, the year the University was founded.
THE ROOMS You will experience a mini-tour of heritages that transports you from the 5th century BC Greece to 18th Century Ukraine. Authentic period furnishings combine with carved stone, stained glass,sculpted and inlaid wood to provide unforgettable glimpses of European, Scandinavian, Middle Easter, African and Asian cultures.
Trained guides are familiar with the historical figures, myths, art, religions, and events depicted in the Rooms and can adapt their tours to children, the handicapped, and special interest groups. The Rooms are decorated in traditional holiday styles from mid-November through mid-January. An open house occurs on a Sunday in early December
A GOTHIC PLACE The 42-story Cathedral of Learning is known as the "world's tallest schoolhouse." Its dramatic height invites the visitor to explore the great Commons Room whose soaring Gothic arches provide the hub for the Nationality Rooms on the first and third floors.
OPERATING HOURS Monday - Saturday 9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Rooms close at 4:00 p.m. Sunday & holidays 11 a.m. -2:30 p.m. Rooms close at 4:00 p.m.
Visitors are encouraged to visit the rooms all days except Thanksgiving Day, December 24, 25, 26, and January 1.
THE TOURS Visitors begin their tour at the Information and Gift Center (near the Fifth Avenue entrance), which sells handcrafted items from around the world, as well as videos, postcards and publications.
NARRATED AUDIO TOURS Cassette tapes of the tour are available on weekdays and every day from May through August.
GUIDED TOURS Guided tours are offered without reservations the day after Thanksgiving, December 27,28,29,30,31. The Information center opens at 10:00 a.m. on those days only. Tours depart 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
To schedule a group guided tour for 10 or more call 412.624.6000 as early as possible, but at least two weeks in advance
SELF CONDUCTED TOURS As most of the rooms are functioning classrooms, their availability varies. When some rooms are in use, visits are given a map and may buy a "Brief Descriptions" ($1.25) booklet to enhance the self-conducted tour.
ADMISSION FEES Adults: $3.00 Youths (ages 8-18): $1.00
The building is handicap accessible, with convenient parking, snack bar and restroom and a food court (Monday - Friday)
For more information, please call 412.624.6000 or, on the web, http://www.pitt.edu/~natrooms
STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE IN THE NATIONALITY ROOMS African - Asante Temple - 18th Century Armenian - Medieval Monastic - 10th-12th century Austrian - Baroque - 17th-18th century Chinese - Chinese Empire - 18th century Czechoslovak - Folk Early America - New England Colonial - 17th century French - Empire - 19th century German - German Renaissance - 16th century Greek - Classical - 5th century BC Hungarian - Folk Indian - Indian Monastic - 4th-9th century Irish - Irish Romanesque - 6th-12th century Israel - Ancient stone dwelling - 1st century AD Italian - Italian Renaissance - 15th century Jpanese - Minka style - 18th century Lithuanian - Folk Norwegian - Folk Polish - Polish Renaissance - 16th century Romanian - Byzantine - 17th century Russian - Byzantine and Folk motifs - 17th century Scottish - Scottish gentry - 17th century Swedish - Folk - 18th century Syria-Lebanon - Damascus Palatial 18th century Ukrainian - Ukrainian Baroque - 17-18th century Yugoslav - Folk
[edit] Another 1st floor plaque
The Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh if 535 feet or 42 stories high, the tallest "schoolhouse" in the western world. The only taller structure in the main building at the University of Moscow in Russia.
It was conceived by then Pitt Chancellor Hohn G. Bowman, who envisioned a structure "forceful, unafraid and sublime, with a sense of upwardness."
Ground was broken in 1926, and the building was finished in 1937. With construction occuring during the Great Depression, it was a difficult but inspiring project. To insure completion, some 97,000 school children gave dimes to "Buy a Brick for Pitt."
The Commons Room on the first floor is 100 feet wide and 200 feet long, with a ceiling four stories or 52 feet high. The walls are hand-cut stone and the floor consists of one-half acre green Vermont slate.
The Cathedral's Nationality Rooms reflect the diversity of Western Pennsylvania. Each was designed and funded by the ethnic group it represents. During December, the classrooms are decorated in traditional holiday styles.
