The City of Dreaming Spires is perhaps the most famous university city in the whole world and the oldest too, at least in the English speaking World. The city is characterized by its harmonious architecture of its university buildings, hidden passages, tranquil squares and fantastic museums. The University buildings seem to be in competition with each other ; trying to outdo the others in terms of grandness and beauty, which got me thinking that the city needs a 21st century icon, a new building, preferably designed by Zaha or Gehry.




Oxford has a population of just under 165,000, but feels much larger. It was first occupied in Saxon times, and was initially known as Oxenaforda. The University of Oxford is first mentioned in 12th century records. As the University took shape, friction between the hundreds of students living where and how they pleased led to a decree that all undergraduates would have to reside in approved halls. During the English Civil War, Oxford housed the court of Charles I in 1642, after the king was expelled from London, although there was strong support in the town for the Parliamentarian cause. It later housed the court of Charles II during the Great Plague of London in 1665–66. Although reluctant to do so, he was forced to evacuate when the plague got too close. By the early 20th century, Oxford was experiencing rapid industrial and population growth, with the printing and publishing industries becoming well established by the 1920s. Also during that decade, the economy and society of Oxford underwent a huge transformation as William Morris established the Morris Motor Company to mass produce cars in Cowley, on the south-eastern edge of the city.



Oxford is one of the most diverse small cities in Britain.



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1. Balliol College, founded in 1263 by Scottish academics. Traditionally, the undergraduates are amongst the most politically active in the university, and the college's alumni include three former prime ministers.



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2. The Hall of The Balliol College, Oxford.



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3. Inside The Hall.



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6. Sheldonian Theatre, built from 1664 to 1668 after a design by Christopher Wren for the University of Oxford. The building is named after Gilbert Sheldon, chancellor of the university at the time and the project's main financial backer. It is used for music concerts, lectures and university ceremonies, but not for drama.




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7. Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library.



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11. Hertford Bridge, but popularly known as the Bridge of Sighs. The bridge links together the Old and New Quadrangles of Hertford College, and much of its current architecture was designed by Sir Thomas Jackson. It was completed in 1914.



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13. Lincoln College, is the second oldest of the three Turl Street Colleges (Lincoln, Exeter, and Jesus). The College was founded on October 13 1427 by Richard Fleming, then Bishop of Lincoln.




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17. The University Church of St Mary the Virgin is the largest of Oxford's parish churches and the centre from which the University of Oxford grew.



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25. Clarendon Building, Oxford, built between 1711 and 1713 to house the Oxford University Press.



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26. New College, Oxford, is one of the most famous and academically successful of the Oxford colleges.



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34. Magdalen College was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester. Regarded by some as one of the most beautiful of the Oxford and Cambridge colleges, Magdalen is also one of the most visited.




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40. Merton College, Oxford, its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to support it.



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42. Corpus Christi College, Oxford, founded in 1517, it is the 12th oldest college in Oxford. The college has had for a long time a reputation as specialising and excelling in Classics, due to the emphasis placed upon this subject since its founding; to this day it takes more students to study Classics each year than any other single subject. The college's historical significance includes its role in the translation of the King James Bible. The college is also noted for the pillar sundial in the main quadrangle, known as the Pelican Sundial, which was erected in 1581 by Charles Turnbull. Corpus achieved notability in more recent years when teams representing them won University Challenge on 9 May 2005 and once again on 23 February 2009, although the latter win was later disqualified.



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47. Christ Church, Oxford, is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As well as being a college, Christ Church is also the cathedral church of the diocese of Oxford, namely Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The college is the setting for parts of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, as well as Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. More recently it has been used in the filming of the movies of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter.



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54. Inside The Christ Church Cathedral, which was originally the Church of St Frideswide's Priory. The site is claimed to be the location of the abbey and relics of St Frideswide, the patron saint of Oxford, although this is debatable. Christ Church Cathedral is often claimed to be the smallest cathedral in England.



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