Living in Oxford | Oxford: a City of Spires and Accolades |
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Oxford, the city of dreaming spires, is a charming university town that evolved from a smallreligious community of teachers and students who used to work here together over 800years ago. Nowadays, it is a lively, modern, cosmopolitan city. Its academic, cultural andtourist facilities and historic standing maintain its reputation as one of the most desirableplaces of study for candidates from all over the world.
Oxford is an attractive city, famous for its ancient buildings, stunning views, and well maintained parks and gardens. The University Park is very close to the city centre and is surrounded by the beautiful buildings of some of the University of Oxford's colleges. Here, you may relax in the wide-open spaces and around the pond, and take a quiet break from the bustle of city life. In SouthPark, which is also close to the centre of the city, many entertaining activities take place, particularly during the summer. There are also college gardens and other smaller parks that you may visit, all of which serve to further enhance the beauty of this picturesque city. Additional attractions are the Thames and Cherwell rivers which flow through the city, upon whose waters students engage in traditional boating activities such as rowing and punting. |
Museums
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Oxford has four major museums linked to the University of Oxford: the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology which is the oldest public museum in Britain; the Pitt-Rivers Museum, specializing in the history of cultures and civilizations, ethnology and art; the Museum of the History of Science; and the University Museum of Natural History, plus smaller museums such as the Bates Collection of Musical Instruments. There is also the Oxfordshire County Museum of Woodstock with its separate resource centre at Standlake, and the Museum of Oxford run by the Oxford City Council, which focuses on the history of the City of Oxford. In addition there is the Oxford Story, a privately run display concentrating on the history of the University of Oxford.
Libraries
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Oxford has one of the greatest libraries in the world, the Bodleian Library with more than 6.5 million items. The Bodleian is the centre of a large number of satellite specialist libraries within the University of Oxford library system, including the Radcliff Science Library, the Bodleian Law Library and the Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House. Altogether, there are more than 100 libraries in Oxford including the library of Oxford Brookes University and the library of the Oxfordshire County Council.