UGA Campus

Step across Broad Street from Downtown Athens and you'll step back two centuries in time to the birthplace of public higher education in America. Did you know? The University of Georgia actually predates the city of Athens. The University was chartered in 1785 and classes began in 1801, a full five years before Athens was chartered in 1806. 

The wrought iron Arch, forged just a few blocks north at a foundry that's now The Foundry music venue at Graduate Athens hotel, is the traditional entrance to campus. You'll probably quickly notice that students veer to either side of the Arch rather than passing underneath-- that's due to an old superstition that students must wait until after graduation to walk through the Arch, else they won't graduate!

Early UGA presidents were Yale men and designed the original campus, now known as North Campus, after Yale. Far across the quad, facing the Arch, is Old College, the oldest building on campus. In the formative years of the University, students and faculty all lived, studied, and ate in this single building. What a long way they've come over two hundred-plus years!

Today, the University of Georgia campus is over 760 acres and contains some of the most popular visitor attractions and scenic spots in Athens, including:

• Georgia Museum of Art
• State Botanical Garden of Georgia
• Special Collections Building
• UGA Bookstore
• Sanford Stadium

The UGA Visitors Center has maps, self-guided tour materials, and offers daily guided tours.

Map of Top UGA Campus Attractions

Campus Scenes