Cathedral of Learning

Went here to visit with my sister who is Pitt alum and I was impressed. The building is so intricately designed and would be perfect for studying or just web surfing. We stopped by during the summer and unfortunately the nationality rooms were locked. Was hoping to check them out. My sister mentioned there was a Klingon room at one point, so that would have been cool to see. Lol.
Nice place to chill for a few minutes if you’re visiting the city.

I think the Cathedral is so beautiful and informational.

The Cathedral of Learning is a very beautifully designed building. It is one of the many gems of Pittsburgh. If you are new to the city and want to do something educational and make your visit worth-​wild, I highly recommend checking out the Cathedral of Learning and tour the Nationality Room. It costs $ 4 for adults and $ 2 for children to tour the curated classrooms that are designed to display all sorts of cultures from all over the world. You can even explore on your own but you won’t have access to all of the class rooms. They even design the rooms with holiday decorations during the winter holiday.
The highlight of the building is the main hall. It looks like the Great Hall at Hogwarts. It just looks so magical, majestic and historical.

The Cathedral of Learning is a beautiful and unique treasure. If you’re visiting the city and are looking for something different to do, definitely consider touring the Nationality Rooms. $ 4 for adults and $ 2 for children, and you can explore the amazingly curated classrooms that are decorated using the cultural aesthetics of different countries from around the world. Some of the rooms are more impressive than others, but in terms of a distinctively unique experience I can’t speak more highly of the tour.
The main hall of the Cathedral well… it looks like the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Which is pretty cool if you’re a Harry Potter nerd, and even cooler if you’re a Harry Potter nerd that attends The University of Pittsburgh. I mean, or if you just appreciate beautiful architecture. I guess.
During the winter holidays each of the rooms are decked out in the traditional holiday decorations for that culture. I would highly recommend touring during the Holiday Open House (typically at the beginning of December) — that’s the only time during the year that they open up the Early American room (which has a secret upstairs room!) and the Syrian Lebanon room for the public. There are vendors, lots of food, dancing, music, and tons of activities. It can get a little congested but it’s definitely worth checking out — and it’s free!
Anyhow, the Cathedral of Learning forever holds a special place in my heart. A+ job Pittsburgh.

The Cathedral of Learning (dubbed Cathy by University of Pittsburgh students) is definitely a place to visit in Pittsburgh. Unlike what a previous commenter said, it was never used as a religious building. However, university tour guides do have an interesting story about the building. Apparently, John Bowman, the chancellor at the time, told a taxi driver to go to the University of Pittsburgh. When the taxi driver did not know where it was, Bowman decided to build Cathy so that everyone could find the university.
The main attraction of the cathedral is the nationality rooms. Each one is beautiful and unique. There are guided and recorded tours for $ 4. If you are planning on doing the recorded tour, plan to bring your drivers license since they keep it for the duration of the tour.
Here are a few things I suggest you do at the Cathedral:
1) Complete a nationality room tour
2) Go to the 36^th floor and see the view
3) Therapy dog Tuesday– Almost every Tuesday at 7 pm (when the university is in session) dogs are brought into the ground floor of the Cathedral. It is super fun!
4) Holiday open house– Once every December there is a day of holiday performances and food. The rooms are also free to enter and Cathy is decorated for Christmas!
5) Light show– At the start of the school year, Pitt has a cathedral light show set to popular music.
6) Halloween tour– There is a secret room in the Early American room that they only open every so often that is supposedly haunted. Maxine, the cathedral’s director, talks about her own personal experiences with the room. Also, Catula (a cat dressed like Dracula) usually comes.
If you are going to be in Pittsburgh, even for a short time, the Cathedral of Learning is a must-​see destination!

If you are looking for something educational and impressive, I highly recommend going to The Nationality Rooms at The Cathedral of Learning. It is only $ 4 for adults and children are $ 2. They have guides or you can go on your own, just make sure you have a form of ID for your group since they give you a master key and they hold onto your ID it until you bring the key back. The doors are normally locked, so just make sure you lock the doors after you are done with each room.
As far as the rooms go, the first floor rooms and Austrian room on the 3^rd floor are a must see. The older rooms are on the first floor and all of them have been redone to impress and show off the special history of each nation. The set up in the rooms are special too, it all is geared to how that specific nation delivers education to their students, so not all rooms are set up the same.
The doors, air grates, ceiling, furniture, you name it… all gear towards a specific era of time for that nation and they have signs and displays sharing the details everywhere. The amount of beauty and awe to be had in the entire experience is wonderful and during Christmas time they spruce up the rooms with their own Christmas traditional tree.

I’m a Pitt alum and many days were spent in the Cathedral for classes, the computer labs, study groups, and lunch in the cafeteria. Who doesn’t love Chik Fil A? And let’s not forget about the Nationality Rooms.
For the first time, I went to the Cathedral to walk the stairs with friends. 36 floors, twice. It’s a great workout. One of the regular stair climbers informed our group that it’s better for your knees to take the elevator down if you plan to walk up more than once. I’ll definitely return. The views at the top are amazing.
My calves are on fire, in a good way.

We had a group of people stair climbing 37 flights of stairs to get our workouts in. Such a beautiful place inside and out.

A must stop in Pittsburgh. Beautiful classroom and administration building at the University of Pittsburgh. The nationality rooms are beautiful. Always handsomely decorated for Christmas. Always bustling with students, tourists, etcetera.

The Cathedral of Learning is part of the University of Pittsburgh and used as classrooms and study lounges (lucky undergrads!!). The architecture is charming and beautiful, particularly the ground floor. There are also Nationality Rooms on the 1^st and 3^rd floors (maybe more but there’s no visitors guide). Most of them were holding lectures when we visited on a weekday morning and the peepholes were too small for us to view the intricate details of each room. I would love to come back and explore all 29 Nationality Rooms when class is not in session.
Note: their elevators are also very slow and only the «old» ones go up to the 3^rd floor but they have stairwells around the corners.

freezing my bullocks off in this cathedral of learning… do people not believe in turning on the heater here???
A college and a museum… pretty cool…
there’s about 30 nationality room at the cathedral of learning in Pittsburgh, PA… it is something you must check out while you are at the cathedral… They are the department in charge of International Studies… I’m pretty sure they run the tours and what not… If you’re in the city… I would suggest going on a tour and the guides are very knowledgeable and probably could tell you what each room represent… how they came up with this concept… if you go all the way up you will get a nice view of Pittsburgh…

The Cathedral of Learning is even more beautiful in person than in pictures!!! When we got there, there were a few students studying in the great hall, and it was super quiet. The whole place was so fun to explore. On the 3^rd floor, you can access these cool classrooms, each of a different country theme and decorated with furniture, pictures, and other things of that specific country’s culture.

Take the GUIDED TOUR!
I visited here over the past weekend and it was totally worth the $ 4! Our guide Rachael was awesome. 1.5hrs may seem like a long time but it was so interesting that it blew by very fast. I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed it as much as I did if we took the headphone your vs the tour with Rachael.

The Cathedral of Learning is part of the University of Pittsburgh campus. They are known for their nationality rooms which also double as classrooms. Currently there are 27 on display on both the first and third floors with 5 more to be added.
During the holiday season they decorate many of the rooms to depict the holiday it celebrates and how it is done. Each room in itself is full of history and you feel like you are actually stepping into a piece of that country.
Paid guided tours are available on the first floor only. I was part of a group that went on the the first floor tour and found it very interesting. It is lengthy so if you plan to take a first floor tour make sure to allow extra time for it.
The third floor sometimes will have a student guide but for the most part you will press a button in the room and it will give you a description of it’s contents.
The Cathedral of Learning is located in Oakland and my suggestion would be to go during semester breaks. It is adjacent to Heinz chapel. Parking and driving can be a bit of a hassle when school is in session since there are many students all over. To catch the holiday touch go during the last two weeks of Dec. Otherwise go between May and Aug when the campus is on summer break.
I was very impressed to learn how the holidays are celebrated in different countries and is well worth the visit.

The Cathedral of Learning, what can I say that hasn’t been said about this place. Yes, it’s beautiful; no one can deny that, especially since they finally gave it a bath after nearly 60 years after its construction completed. Is it tall? Of course. It is the second tallest university building in the world (damn you Russia). We all know it is a diversified building with all the Nationality rooms (29 at present count). Plus, people kind of refer to it as Hogwarts at times.
What you may not know, don’t go all the way up to the highest floor you can. It’s quite awesome to go up and take in the view of Oakland and in the distance Downtown. But don’t try a door that quite possibly may be connected to the fire alarm system… IT WILL NOT OPEN! Also, it may set off the fire alarm and then you are demanded by overhead speaker to evacuate the building… by stairs. Do you know what it feels like to walk down 39 flights of awkward stairs? It’s not fun, not fun at all. What the kicker is, as my family and I reached the bottom of the stairs, the fire alarm was finally cleared. I kid you not, my foot just hit the floor after the last step, and it was cleared.
Never again Cathedral, NEVER! But I still love you, you are beautiful and don’t listen to what some of the foreign exchange student refer to you as.

The Cathedral of Learning is perfect. Maybe I am a little biased because I went to Pitt for my undergraduate degree, am currently enrolled as a graduate student for Pitt as well and have lived in Pittsburgh all of my life… But regardless, I love it.
The building is gorgeous and is often referred to as Hogwarts– for Pitt students anyway :). The nationality rooms are awesome and so unique! I love taking a look in them and checking out the art and all of the work in general, that has been put into them! There’s a secret attic in the American room and I was lucky enough to explore it when I was taking one of my classes as an undergrad.
The Cathedral is perfect to study in. Tons of spaces with quiet areas as well as areas for groups to meet. The view from the top is incredible as well!
The Cathedral of Learning is a Pittsburgh landmark and is the heart and soul of The University of Pittsburgh.

This is seriously one of the coolest places I’ve been to. I would live in this building if I could. I was really into this tour, and my friends all seemed to be as well. Also, the main area looks like it could be the Great Hall from Hogwarts.
It’s inexpensive, beautiful, educational, intriguing, etc. Check it out!

Once you visit this place, you will probably not go back. Apparently, university students actually have classes here, and on weekends visitors are charged to check out the «international rooms». in the beginning, the first few rooms are intriguing, but after awhile, they become dull.
If you’re within proximity, i’d recommend you check it out. You’ll need to pay to get a key to unlock each of the international rooms on the first floor. All the rooms on the 2^nd floor are free to peruse.

I’m embarrassed to say that this was my first visit to this wonderful, outstanding building.
How lucky are we that this is in Pittsburgh?
We toured the nationality rooms and I truly enjoyed every second of it. My only complaint is that I cannot move in. :)

I’m not very well traveled outside the US, but I’ve been to Epcot a butt-​load of times and while I know I’m probably going to be crucified for this (too soon?), I thought the Cathedral of Learning was SO 1497.
It’s a church that’s now used by the university for classes and inside, it looks like most historic churches do, but sub the preaching with individualized classrooms dedicated to different nationalities. I knew it wasn’t going to be Epcot but I was expecting more than it was. Sure, it’s a free attraction– but parking in this area is a b*tch and it really wasn’t worth the garage fee. I would have rather paid double to go to a different more lively attraction in the ‘arn’ city.
I should mention that we did happen in on a day where there appeared to be some sort of festival going on where children danced folk dances in costumes and old people sold home-​made ethnic food off folding tables and mini paper plates. It looked like a festival my 5^th grade class put on, and the smell once inside (courtesy of all those food «vendors») brought on a some major morning sickness-​style nausea. How is it that Pennsylvania has some crazy strict Amish liquor laws, yet nothing regulating what was surely 100 different kinds of health code violations? If anything, they should be encouraging the booze to kill off any kind of bacterial infection that could be brewing.
As for the rooms, I guess it’s a neat idea for school, but as a tourist site I thought it was pretty boring and that the rooms on the first and second floor look kind of all look the same. Sure, that architecture is really something, but isn’t Pittsburgh pretty chock full of old churches and ish? Is this one really all that remarkable in comparison? I know it’s pretty tall, but personally, I feel like I wasted my last moments in Pittsburgh checking out this pretty predictable sight when I could have done something a little more fruitful.
You can stone, smite and shun me, but for anyone else looking for a little more excitement while finding their enlightened self on a tourist time budget, maybe just Google the rooms and spend your precious minutes elsewhere.