When you’re at the Cathedral of Learning, make sure you don’t miss out on the famous Nationality Rooms. The Nationality Rooms are a series of 29 classrooms in the Cathedral, located on the 1st and 3rd floors. The rooms are designated as official historical landmarks. All the rooms are so intricately designed and constructed that they are of the finest museum calibre, but they are used mostly as classrooms by the faculty and students. Only the Early American and Syrian-Lebanon rooms can be accessed via guided tours, and visitors throng to them whenever they enter the cathedral.

Each room depicts a certain ethnic group, and is donated for by the respective ethnic group itself. Each room is dedicated to depicting the culture and traditions of the particular group, which gives every room its own unique characteristic. For example, the Syrian- Lebanon room was originally a rich Damascan Merchant’s library, before it was moved to the Cathedral intact as it originally stood, thus preserving the authenticity of the room. Apart from being two of the Cathedral’s most visited rooms, they also host lectures, seminars, concerts exhibitions, and social events which focus on the various heritages and traditions of the nations represented.

• The Nationality Rooms are available daily for public tours as long as the particular room is not being used for a class or other university function.
• To avoid political implications in the room, no political symbol is permitted in the decorations, nor a portrait or likeness of any living person.

The Nationality Rooms are the most treasured spaces in the Cathedral of Learning. It isn’t just a classroom, but each room is a marvellous homage to the culture it represents. It is a marvel to witness and a great learning experience at the same time.

• Unlike most museums, there are no static museum displays. The University uses them regularly as active class rooms.
• Don’t forget to ask for your own headsets when you are taking the guided tour.

• Tour timings are subject to change.

• Bus Nos: 87, 71C, 71 A, 93, 75 will take you to the Cathedral of Learning, which is where the Nationality Rooms are situated. Get down at 5th Avenue.

• Tempo
• The Porch at Schenley
• Asia Teahouse
• Bridges
• Holiday Inn
• Brioche Doree
• Hemingway’s Cafe

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