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Jefferson's major work was the founding and planning of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. It is one of the earliest examples of a "campus university," in which buildings are loosely grouped in a pavilion system and integrated into the surrounding landscape. The precursors for this concept, which replaced the self-contained, monastic type of college building, can be found in Cambridge, England.
Jefferson successfully managed to redefine a centuries-old building type, while allowing the full spectrum of Classical architecture to emerge anew: the heart and high point of this "academic village" is the rotunda, which accommodates the library and the country's first observatory. Around it, organized by colonnades, are grouped two rows of five pavilions each, which house the various academic disciples Their architecture is intended to replicate a stroll through ancient Rome; quotes from the Pantheon, the Temple of Fortuna Virilis, and the baths of Diocletian combine with Neoclassical interpretations of the antique.
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