Cathedral of Learning

The Cathedral of Learning is the second-tallest education building in the world, measuring in at 42 stories, and reaching 535 feet up into the sky. It is the geographic and traditional heart of the University of Pittsburgh campus.

The planning and construction was undertaken by Chancellor John Bowman in 1926, and dedicated in 1937, the building was (financially) realized by the help of contributions from all people throughout the world. During the worst of the Great Depression, funding became scarce, and school children were encouraged to contribute a dime to "buy a brick."

Housed in the Cathedral is the magnificent three-story gothic Commons Room, classrooms, including the Nationality Classrooms, the University's administrative offices, libraries, a computer center, a restaurant, and a spattering of other offices.

The tower has 2,529 windows.

An attractive picture of the building can be found at: http://www.umc.pitt.edu/tour/tour-080-photo.html

This information can be found at http://www.pitt.edu

A common rite of passage for some of the particularly naughty freshmen at Carnegie Mellon University (just down the road from Pitt and the Cathedral of Learning) is to climb to the top of the Cathedral and urinate off the ledge. This traditional act of disrespect is consistent with the longstanding tension between CMU students and Pitt students: Pitt people generally hold CMU people to be arrogant assholes, and CMUers see Pitt students as quite stupid and silly.

Also, Carnegie Mellon students often refer to the Cathedral of Learning as the "Tower of Ignorance" or the "Height of Stupidity" in jest.

generic-man says: at CMU, I've heard it called the "Phallus of Ignorance" by some.

The Cathedral of Learning is one of the only non-CMU buildings in Pittsburgh which is visible from the main part of the CMU campus.