Campus of the University of Notre Dame

The campus of the University of Notre Dame is located in Notre Dame, Indiana, and spans 1,250 acres comprising around 170 buildings. The campus is consistently ranked and admired as one of the most beautiful university campuses in the United States and around the world, particularly noted for the Golden Dome, the Basilica and its stained glass windows, the quads and the greenery, the Grotto, Touchdown Jesus, its collegiate gothic architecture, and its statues and museums.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} Notre Dame is a major tourist attraction in northern Indiana; in the 2015–2016 academic year, more than 1.8 million visitors, almost half of whom were from outside of St. Joseph County, visited the campus.^[6][7]

When the university was founded in 1842, the only building on site was the Log Chapel, which had been built in 1831. Under the guidance of the founder and first president Edward Sorin, Old College and the first church and main building were built. The second main building, which constituted almost the entirety of the university facilities, burnt down in 1879, and was followed the current Main Building was built. Campus has continued to grow ever since. The architectural style of the first building was an eclectic mix of 19th French and Victorian architecture, with collegiate gothic taking over at the beginning of the 20th century with architects such as Kervick and Fagan and Maginnis & Walsh. The latter half of the 20th century saw the use of modernist designs, but since the mid-1990s the university recommitted to the gothic architecture keeping the specific materials and forms of the older parts of campus. Many of the older structures on were inserted in 1973 on the National Register of Historic Places.^[8]

The center of campus is Main Quad, often called God Quad, which hosts the Main Building and the Basilica, and other important buildings and residence halls. The North-West area of campus is mainly dedicated to residential buildings, the Central-East portion of campus is dedicated to academic spaces, while the South-East is dedicated to athletics. Apart from Main Quad, there are 6 quadrangles: North Quad, Mod Quad, and West Quad (mainly residential), South Quad and Bond Quad (mixed residential and academic), and DeBartolo Quad (only academic).^[9]