All Souls College
No students, the hardest exam in the world, and Hawksmoor's twin towers
Oxford tiene casi la mayor concentracion de edificios protegidos por kilometro cuadrado de toda Inglaterra. Ocho siglos de construccion ininterrumpida han dejado un paisaje urbano unico — medieval, Tudor, barroco, victoriano y moderno atrevido conviven puerta con puerta, a veces incluso dentro de los muros del mismo colegio. No necesitas una guia para disfrutar de la arquitectura de Oxford, pero saber que mirar convierte un paseo por el centro en una clase condensada de historia de la arquitectura britanica.
Medieval (siglos XIII-XV): Empieza por Merton College — su Mob Quad (terminado en 1378) es el patio residencial mas antiguo del mundo. New College, con su claustro y capilla, establecio el modelo para los colegios de Oxford durante los tres siglos siguientes. La Divinity School, ahora parte de la Bodleian Library, tiene la boveda de abanico mas bella despues de la de King's College en Cambridge.
Tudor y jacobino (siglos XVI-XVII): La torre de los "cinco ordenes" de la Bodleian Library superpone de forma didactica columnas toscanas, doricas, jonicas, corintias y compuestas. El Sheldonian Theatre (1669) fue la primera obra importante de Christopher Wren, construida cuando todavia era profesor de astronomia. El techo pintado abarca 21 metros sin una sola columna de apoyo.
Barroco y georgiano (siglo XVIII): La Radcliffe Camera (1749) es el edificio mas fotografiado de Oxford: una sala de lectura circular disenada por James Gibbs en el centro de Radcliffe Square. Nicholas Hawksmoor diseno las torres gemelas de All Souls College y el Clarendon Building en Broad Street.
Victoriano y moderno (desde 1860): Keble College es la obra maestra policromatica de William Butterfield en ladrillo rojo, azul y crema, despreciada por el mundo academico cuando se construyo y hoy edificio protegido de grado I. El Natural History Museum (1860) es una catedral de hierro y cristal. En St Catherine's College, Arne Jacobsen diseno absolutamente todo en los anos 60, desde el edificio hasta la cuberteria — modernismo escandinavo que lo convierte en el unico colegio de Oxford disenado integramente por un solo arquitecto.
El paseo por el circuito de los colegios cubre la mayoria de estos edificios. Empieza en Broad Street (Sheldonian Theatre, Clarendon Building), cruza Radcliffe Square (Radcliffe Camera, Bodleian Library, All Souls), baja hacia el sur hasta Merton y Corpus Christi, y vuelve por Keble y University Parks.
No students, the hardest exam in the world, and Hawksmoor's twin towers
The world's first university museum — free, with major collections of art and archaeology.
One of Oxford's oldest colleges — plain outside, historically significant inside
One of the oldest libraries in Europe — the Divinity School, Duke Humfrey's Library, and the Radcliffe Camera.
Right behind the Radcliffe Camera — an intimate college with a painted chapel ceiling
Oxford's grandest college — part cathedral, part palace, all spectacle
One of Oxford's smallest colleges, with a famous pelican sundial
Tolkien's college, a miniature Sainte-Chapelle, and a hidden view over Radcliffe Square
A former Jericho bar in a deconsecrated Greek Revival church — currently closed, with the building under new ownership.
A modern graduate college wrapped around a Georgian observatory tower
Oxford's mature-student college with notable Pre-Raphaelite stained glass
Home of the Bridge of Sighs — Oxford’s most photographed architectural moment
The Welsh college on Turl Street — quieter than its neighbours, full of character
Victorian polychrome brick — Oxford's most divisive building and a masterpiece painting
Oxford's part-time and continuing education hub — not a tourist destination
Riverside gardens and pioneering history, away from the tourist crush
A proper Oxford local — ancient, unpretentious, and owned by St John's College.
An eco-focused graduate college — admirable but not a visitor attraction
A perfectly preserved medieval gem on Turl Street — John Wesley's college
Extensive grounds with a deer park, river walks, and a famous tower
A Nonconformist college with a Gothic Revival chapel and progressive spirit
Oxford's oldest quad, a medieval library, and Tolkien's second home
Medieval cloisters, a stretch of city wall, and a chapel with an El Greco
Oxford's social science powerhouse — architecturally divisive, intellectually formidable
Oxford's oldest royal foundation — seven centuries on a beautiful square
Dinosaurs, dodos, and Darwin's legacy — all under a Gothic Revival iron-and-glass roof.
Samuel Johnson's college — quietly handsome, just off St Aldate's
A Victorian cabinet of curiosities — shrunken heads, totem poles, and half a million objects from every culture on earth.
A tiny Baptist hall on St Giles' — small and friendly
A pioneering women's college — alumni include Thatcher, Sayers, and Indira Gandhi
A modernist campus college with a strong access ethos — not a sightseeing stop
Oxford's international affairs college — impressive seminars, not impressive buildings
Designed by Arne Jacobsen — a complete modernist campus with sculpture gardens by the Cherwell
A small graduate college on St Giles' — pleasant but not a visitor destination
The oldest academic hall in any university — 800 years in a tiny quad off Queen's Lane
Oxford's last single-sex college (until 2008), with Cherwell riverside gardens
14 acres of gardens in North Oxford — one of the largest college grounds in the university
Oxford's wealthiest college — Canterbury Quad, large gardens, and serious money
A young college on an ancient site — unassuming but well located near the castle
Oxford's oldest pub — famous for its tie collection and recently expanded into a larger space.
A proper pub hiding in plain sight on the High Street — the 15th-century beams are the real deal.
Oxford's beating heart since 1774 — over 50 independent stalls under one historic roof.
Where the Inklings met — Tolkien and Lewis's local on St Giles'.
A big riverside pub at Folly Bridge — the terrace over the Thames is the whole point.
The pub where Radiohead played their first gig — Oxford's main small live music venue.
Oxford's quintessential student pub — Young's ales on Holywell Street, opposite the Bodleian.
A proper village pub in Headington Quarry — the kind of place C.S. Lewis would have walked to, because he did.
A thatched riverside pub reached via a walk across Port Meadow.
A baroque showpiece on the High Street — Oxford's only fully classical college
A village green pub in Wolvercote — proper ale, proper food, properly relaxed.
North Parade's anchor pub — a proper local where the landlord knows every regular by name.
Inspector Morse's local, perched over a weir on the Thames at Wolvercote — come for the view, stay for the atmosphere.
A well-hidden pub, tucked down a medieval alleyway behind the Bodleian.
A tiny Broad Street pub squeezed between Blackwell's and the Bodleian — smaller than some college rooms.
Spacious gardens and a Wren chapel on Broad Street — often overlooked
Possibly Oxford's oldest college — Shelley's memorial and a long High Street facade
A well-preserved Jacobean quad, large gardens, and a progressive reputation
Isaiah Berlin's riverside graduate college — pleasant Cherwell-side setting
A lake, medieval cottages, and large gardens — one of central Oxford's hidden landscapes