University of Virginia Chapel

A Gothic Revival Chapel for Jefferson's Academic Village


When Jefferson created his academic village it did not have a place of worship. In the late Nineteenth Century members of the Charlottesville community raised the money to build this gothic revival chapel designed by Charles Emmet Cassell of Baltimore. The cornerstone was set in 1885, and the completed chapel was dedicated in 1889. The chapel marks a sharp departure from Jefferson's classical forms. Thirty years ago today I was saying my wedding vows inside this venerable old building!