University of Cambridge, Research university in Cambridge, England.
The University of Cambridge is a research university in Cambridge, England, made up of 31 colleges distributed throughout the city. Stone buildings from different centuries connect through courtyards, lawns, and the River Cam, which runs past several colleges and offers visitors the chance to try punting on its waters.
The institution formed in 1209 when scholars left Oxford and settled in Cambridge, receiving its first royal charter from King Henry III in 1231. During the Renaissance the university became a center for humanist learning, before shifting toward science in the 17th century through the work of Isaac Newton.
Students wear academic gowns to formal dinners held in college dining halls, a practice visitors can observe on most evenings. The library system opens its collections to researchers and the public, while college chapels host choir services that anyone may attend throughout the week.
Most colleges allow visitors to explore their courtyards and chapels during the day, though they often close during exam periods in May and June. Information about access to individual buildings and gardens is posted at entrance gates or available on each college's website.
Trinity College holds a library designed by Christopher Wren that houses original manuscripts by Isaac Newton and A. A. Milne. Visitors can walk through a small room containing the wooden statue of Lord Byron, removed from his own lodgings during his time as a student.
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