The tree-studded, shady, and redbrick expanse of Harvard Yard -- the very center of Harvard University -- has weathered the footsteps of Harvard students for more than 300 years. In 1636 the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony voted funds to establish the colony's first college and a year later chose Cambridge as the site. Named in 1639 for John Harvard, a young Charlestown clergyman who died in 1638 and left the college his entire library and half his estate, Harvard remained the only college in the New World until 1693, by which time it was firmly established as a respected center of learning. Local wags refer to Harvard as WGU -- World's Greatest University -- and it is certainly the oldest and most famous American university. It boasts numerous schools or "faculties," including the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Medical School, the Law School, the Business School, and the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Although the college dates from the 17th century, the oldest buildings in Harvard Yard are of the 18th century; together the buildings chronicle American architecture from the colonial era to the present. Holden Chapel, completed in 1744, is a Georgian gem. The graceful University Hall was designed in 1815 by Charles Bulfinch. An 1884 statue of John Harvard by Daniel Chester French stands outside; ironically for a school with the motto of "Veritas" ("Truth"), the model for the statue was a member of the class of 1882, as there is no known contemporary likeness of Harvard himself. Sever Hall, completed in 1880 and designed by Henry Hobson Richardson, represents the Romanesque revival that was followed by the neoclassical (note the pillared facade of Widener Library) and the neo-Georgian, represented by the sumptuous brick houses along the Charles River, many of which are now undergraduate residences. Memorial Church, a graceful steepled edifice of modified Colonial revival design, was dedicated in 1932. Just north of the Yard is Memorial Hall, completed in 1878 as a memorial to Harvard men who died in the Union cause; it's High Victorian both inside and out. It also contains the 1,166-seat Sanders Theatre, site of year-round concerts -- student and professional -- and the venue for the festive Christmas Revels.

Many of Harvard's cultural and scholarly facilities are important sights in themselves, including the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, the Fogg Art Museum, the Harvard Museum of Natural History, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, and the Widener Library. However, be aware that most campus buildings, other than museums and concert halls, are off-limits to the general public.

Harvard University Events & Information Center (Holyoke Center, 1350 Massachusetts Ave. 617/495-1573. www.harvard.edu), run by students, includes a small library, a video-viewing area, computer terminals, and an exhibit space. It also distributes maps of the university area and has free student-led tours of Harvard Yard. The tour doesn't include visits to museums, and it doesn't take you into campus buildings, but it provides a fine orientation. The information center is open September through mid-June, Monday through Saturday 9-5; from mid-June through August it's open Monday through Saturday 9-7, Sunday noon-5. During the academic year tours are given weekdays at 10 and 2 and Saturday at 2; from mid-June through August, tours are held Monday through Saturday at 10, 11:15, 2, and 3:15. Call to confirm tour schedules, especially if you are visiting outside the academic year.