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The university’s oldest building, constructed in 1720, acted as a meeting place for revolutionary soldiers. It continues to be a focal point of resistance movements, most recently in 2001, when students occupied the hall’s administrative offices in an effort to secure a fair wage for the university’s employees.

The statue’s inscription “John Harvard, Founder 1638” conceals three deceptions, hence its nickname “The Statue of Three Lies”. First, there is no known portrait of John Harvard, so the sculptor, Daniel French, used a model; second, John Harvard did not found the university – rather it was named after him; and last, the university was not founded in 1638, but in 1636.

Built over 14 years, Harvard’s memorial to its fallen union army alumni was officially opened in 1878. Conceived as a multipurpose building, it has hosted graduation exercises, theatrical performances, and assemblies of all kinds.

Harvard’s mixed residential and academic yard became the standard by which most American institutions of higher learning modeled their campuses.

The Widener is the largest university library in the US. It houses a special collection of rare books, including a Gutenberg bible and early editions of Shakespeare’s collected works.

Never mind George Washington’s taxidermied pheasants, the enormous Brazilian amethyst geode, or the world’s only mounted Kronosaurus skeleton. Check out the glass flowers: 830 species of plants, painstakingly replicated in brilliant, colorful glass.

The world’s largest, and most comprehensive, university art collection is housed here. The focus is on Western art from the late Middle Ages to the present, with a fine selection of Impressionist works.

Unlike the Fogg, its Impressionist-inclined downstairs neighbor, the Busch-Reisinger leans toward German expressionism, the Bauhaus, and generally more contemporary art movements.

The university’s Asian, Egyptian, Islamic, and later Indian art collections are on display in the relatively modern Sackler. Don’t forget to see what’s showing in the special exhibition gallery, the largest at the university.

Housing one of the world’s most comprehensive records of human cultural history, the Peabody caters for the Indiana Jones in all of us. Highlights include locally culled prehistoric artifacts, a permanent Mesoamerica exhibit, and a new gallery devoted to frequently rotating temporary exhibits.