Nationality Rooms

Austrian Room.

The Nationality Rooms at Pitt's Cathedral of Learning are really cool! We went to check them out during their annual Christmas open house, with costumed interpreters in each room. But they are also open for tours with audio guides and guided group tours throughout the year.

Most of them are regularly used as classrooms.  That must be both fun and at times a bit frustrating, since few of them were modeled after actual classrooms and can be a bit impractical. But every one of them is uniquely lovely. The Nationality Rooms are definitely one of Pittsburgh's many hidden gems, and they tend to reflect the melting pot of Pittsburgh itself, because local community groups fund their creation.  Typically a room is meant to transport the visitor to a very specific place and time, with many authentic details. Right now there are a few classrooms on their third floor that local cultural organizations are hoping to turn into nationality rooms. There are plans for Moroccan, Finnish, and Iranian rooms. And following a successful fundraiser, an announcement has been made that work will begin on a Filipino room this spring. They are planning to make the windows from capiz shells, which are translucent and hold up well in the Philippines under tropical sun and earthquakes. The room may be ready in time for their annual open house.

Detail of Austrian Room ceiling. 

Austrian Room. 

Korean Heritage Room.

Ukrainian Room.

Israel Heritage Room.

Detail from Israel Heritage Room.

African Heritage Room.

Early American Room. This room is a bit awkward for classes, and contains some valuable artifacts as well as a hidden passageway to a loft. In the loft is a bedroom furnished in antiques. Objects move around the room often with no visible cause, leading to a belief that the room is haunted. The room is not normally open for classes or self-guided tours. 

Swiss Room.

Armenian Room.

The Lord's Prayer in Welsh, from the Welsh Room.

Yugoslav Room. This room was dedicated in 1939 when Yugoslavia was still a country, and collectively reflects the heritage of Slovenians, Slovakians, Bosnians, Croatians, Dalmatians, Montenegrins, and Serbians.

English Room.

Norwegian Room.

Russian Room.

Swedish Room.

Ceiling of Chinese Room.

Turkish Room.

Peering into the tiny, ornate Syria-Lebanon Room. The room itself was moved from a home
in Damascus, where it served as a library. Only the floor and the seat cushions are not original to the room.

Romanian Room.