A VISIT TO THE MOST BEAUTIFUL UNIVERSITY IN AMERICA

Good Morning.

This weekend will be bittersweet for the my family and me.  That is because we will be watching our son Taylor say goodbye to Duke University which has been his home for the past 4 years.  As a proud member of the Duke University Class of 2014, he will be graduating from this wonderful institution on Sunday.

Soon he will be donning a robe and tasseled cap……

Photo Credit Megan Hohenstein

and will join the ranks of Duke Alumni, no longer a student in these beautiful hallowed halls.

Taylor is going to miss this place and I’m going to miss visiting him here.  I imagine that this weekend might be my last visit to what I consider the most beautiful university in America.  Located in Durham, North Carolina, I don’t imagine I’ll have much cause to visit Duke University in the future.  So, I took a sentimental look back at all the photos I have taken during my visits to Duke over the past 4 years. And, I thought I’d take you with me for one last visit.  Lets start at the  Duke Chapel, an iconic symbol of the university.

Duke Chapel is at the center of the Gothic West Campus and is the centerpiece of the university.  This weekend we will be in attendance here for the formal Baccalaureate services, celebrating the Duke Class of 2014.

Built in 1932, the chapel is dominated by a 210-foot tower housing a 50-bell carillon.

The entrance to the Duke Chapel is crowned by beautiful carvings.

On our last visit we took a guided tour of the chapel with an informative docent.  I wish I could remember more of the details to share with you.  But, the main thing is the chapel is beautiful.  It stands majestically as beacon of beauty and grace on the Duke campus.

The stained glass windows are really magnificent, both from the outside of the chapel……

and from the inside.

If I didn’t know better I’d think I was in a cathedral in Europe.

I imagine that as houses of worship go, the Duke Chapel has got to be one of the most impressive in the United States.

Stepping inside one is struck by the impressive pulpit, lectern, and other ornamentations, all made of Indiana limestone.

Duke Chapel is a grand example of what is known as Neo-Gothic Architecture English Style.

The chapel is unique in that it has three beautiful pipe organs, each in a different style.

Washington Duke and his sons Benjamin and James are entombed in the Memorial Chapel.  Can you imagine being entombed in your own chapel?  It reminds me of the Kings who are buried in Westminster Abbey in London!

Duke University was created in 1924 by James Buchanan Duke as a memorial to his father, Washington Duke. Pretty nice Father’s Day present wouldn’t you say? The Duke family built a worldwide financial empire in the manufacture of tobacco products and also developed electricity production in the Carolinas.  They put some of their fortune to very good work, as the primary benefactors for the establishment and continued development of Duke University.

Members of the Duke family are not the only ones buried in Duke Chapel.  In an underground chapel……

at the bottom of these stairs……

one finds the burial site of a past President of Duke University who was also a United States Senator and Governor of North Carolina.  Fairly impressive resume I’d say.

Well, I’m going to leave you with that today.  In my next post we’ll continue “A Visit to the Most Beautiful University in America”.  I’ll take you on a walk around campus and I’ll share more photos of this beautiful place.  Duke University is often likened to Harry Potter’s Hogwarts.  It’s a really special place, just wait and see!

If you’d like more information about the Interdenominational Duke Chapel you can visit their website here.

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