Virginia’s Historic Charlottesville
By Bill Whitman - April 1, 2009
On your approach to Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport, you’ll gaze down on one of America’s most historic landscapes, where gardens, vineyards and venerable country estates dot rolling hills and woodlands. On one hilltop, you’ll spot an elegant, white-domed Palladian villa that mysteriously arrived from northern Italy and materialized here in the hills of central Virginia. That will be Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s beloved estate, where he lived from 1770 until his death in 1826, through a career as author of the Declaration of Independence, secretary of state, minister to France and third president of the U.S. And, as you’ll soon discover, Charlottesville remains Jefferson’s town; his influence continues to set the style and pace for this small, graceful city with a countryside drenched in culture and history.
Start your visit to Charlottesville on the University of Virginia campus, the Academical Village that Jefferson founded and designed in 1819. Wander along The Lawn, a grassy esplanade flanked by the columned student and faculty residences of Jefferson’s original campus. Presiding over The Lawn is the stately, white-domed Rotunda, which once housed the university library and lecture halls. Modeled after Rome’s Pantheon, it has been recognized, along with Monticello, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, putting it in the same category as such other international treasures as the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China.
Take a few minutes to explore the historic walled gardens behind each pavilion, then head to the nearby University Art Museum, a trove of everything from Asian art to French modernists. Afterward, follow Main Street to the city’s Downtown Mall, once the town’s traditional business district, but now a bustling, tree-lined pedestrian island with al fresco cafés, local artisans selling their wares and early 20th century storefronts hosting trendy 21st century boutiques, restaurants and galleries.
Although the Mall has enough shops to keep you and your plastic fully occupied, don’t miss Caspari, the only U.S. branch of the Parisian boutique famed for its stylish paper products and hyper-fashionable housewares, and the Signet Gallery, with its vibrant mix of posh jewelry and gifts. The Mall also boasts a lively collection of contemporary art galleries, including the Sage Moon, where you’ll find an eclectic assortment of artists and artisanry from Toledo to Tuscany, and Les Yeux du Monde, with works by local and international artists. Book lovers will want to poke through browse-worthy bookshops like Daedalus and Read it Again, Sam. And since this is the heart of Virginia wine country, a visit to Tastings for an introduction to the area’s top vintages is mandatory.
Next you’ll want to drive through the hills above Charlottesville to pay your respects to Mr. Jefferson at Monticello, which features abundant evidence of his towering intellect–his collections of books and scientific instruments, his personally designed furniture, the dumbwaiter (which he invented) and even the classic architecture of the mansion itself. After your tour, stop by the house’s South Garden and vineyard. That’s where Jefferson–convinced that Virginia could produce wines as fine as those he loved in France–planted America’s first European vines, prompting Nathan Hale to grumble that his fellow revolutionary had returned from Paris so “Frenchified” that he had “abjured his native victuals.”
Share This Article With Others