Known locally as Caius (pronounced "keys"), Gonville and Caius boasts three fascinating gates – known as Virtue, Humility and Honour – symbolising the progress of the good student. Down the alley beside the college, the Porta Honoris (an occult-looking, sundial-topped confection that pays a nod to the Treasury at Petra in Jordan) leads to the Senate House and thus graduation. Contact the college for current hours and entry fees.
The college was actually founded twice, first by a priest called Gonville, in 1348, and then again in 1557 by Dr Caius (a Latin-version of the name Keys), a brilliant physician who undermined his legacy by insisting in the statutes that the college admit no "deaf, dumb, deformed, lame, chronic invalids, or Welshmen."
Former students include Francis Crick (of DNA-discoverers Crick and Watson) and the late, great Stephen Hawking, who was a fellow here for more than 50 years.
