Columbia University is one of the oldest in the United States. Its walls were about one hundred Nobel prize winners, dozens of heads of state, famous writers, actors, journalists. The Columbia campus is interesting not only as a monument of architecture – here you can see the modern life of American students.

He founded the University before the war of independence, king George II, calling it the Royal College. Here he studied the young Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the United States and Creator of the financial system of the country. Statue of Hamilton now stands on campus.

Upon reaching the colonies independence king's College was renamed Columbia (Columbia – women's image, symbolizing the USA). In 1787 Charter was adopted by the institution upon which it lives now. Under this Statute governs them an independent Board of Trustees. In 1896, the Council officially allowed to use the new name: Columbia University.

University building designed and built in the Beaux arts architectural firm Mckim, Mead and white. The main campus since the late nineteenth century occupies six blocks (approximately 13 hectares) in Northern Manhattan, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. Here are the academic buildings, library, two dozen student hostels, apartments, teachers, graduate students and staff. The buildings are connected by a vast system of old tunnels, some of which are open to visitors.

The administrative centre of the University memorial library Lowe, neoclassical building with a powerful ionic colonnade and a huge dome. Before entering the library in 1904 was a statue of "Alma Mater" the works of Daniel Chester French, regarded as a symbol of the University. This is a figure of a seated goddess Athena, in the folds of the cloak which hides the owl, a symbol of knowledge. One legend States that a student who will find the owl, be sure to marry a girl from a neighboring women's College Barnard.

On campus, there is a wonderful chapel of St. Paul, designed and built in 1907 by the architect of the Phelps Stokes. Its architecture features a mix of styles – Italian Renaissance, Byzantine and Gothic. The dome of the chapel is surrounded by sixteen arched Windows, inside is a magnificent stained-glass Windows, bronze chandeliers, a memorial plaque commemorating the important moments in the history of the University.

Columbia University is a member of the prestigious ivy League. It was here that a group of scientists, which included Enrico Fermi, began the research, which later became the Manhattan project (so there were nuclear weapons). Administered by the University is the Pulitzer award, which is presented annually for outstanding achievements in journalism. President Barack Obama graduated from Columbia, being in good company: the local graduates were five founding fathers of the USA, as well as presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.