Cambridge is a market town that became one of the world's great university cities. Colleges line the river, and the town green where football rules were written is still a public park. Here are the facts and stories behind it.
10 curiosità su Cambridge
- Un’università fondata da fuggiaschi: l’Università di Cambridge risale al 1209, quando un gruppo di studiosi lasciò Oxford dopo un conflitto con gli abitanti e si stabilì qui.
- Football's rule book was drafted here: in 1848 students who played on Parker's Piece wrote down an early set of football rules. A sculpture on the edge of the green commemorates these Cambridge Rules.
- A park named after a cook: Parker's Piece takes its name from Edward Parker, a cook who held the lease on the land when it was still used for grazing.
- A lamp post with a nickname: the gas lamp where the paths cross in the middle of Parker's Piece was put up in 1893. In the 1960s students started calling it Reality Checkpoint.
- Un memoriale per una tragedia polare: lo Scott Polar Research Institute fu fondato nel 1920 in memoria del capitano Robert Falcon Scott e dei quattro uomini morti con lui sulla via del ritorno dal Polo Sud. Il suo edificio su Lensfield Road, di Herbert Baker, fu inaugurato nel 1934.
- A ceiling like no other: King's College was founded by Henry VI in 1441, and the first stone of its chapel was laid in 1446. The chapel has the largest fan vault in the world.
- Un orologio che divora il tempo: il Corpus Clock, all’angolo del Corpus Christi College, fu inaugurato da Stephen Hawking nel 2008. Una creatura di metallo chiamata Chronophage striscia sul quadrante dorato, e l’orologio è volutamente irregolare: segna l’ora esatta solo di tanto in tanto.
- The secret of life, announced in a pub: on 28 February 1953 Francis Crick walked into The Eagle and, by James Watson's account, told the lunchtime crowd that they had found the secret of life. A plaque by the door marks their discovery of the structure of DNA.
- A bridge with a myth: the wooden Mathematical Bridge at Queens' College was first built in 1749. A popular story says Isaac Newton built it without bolts, but he had died more than 20 years earlier.
- Una città giovane: nonostante l’età, Cambridge ha ottenuto lo status di city solo nel 1951. Davanti al Great Gate del Trinity College, dove studiò Newton, cresce un melo che discenderebbe da quello della sua casa natale.
La storia di Scott e della corsa al Polo
In January 1912 Captain Scott and four companions reached the South Pole, only to find a tent and a Norwegian flag: Roald Amundsen's team had arrived about five weeks earlier, on 14 December 1911. On the return journey all five men died of cold, hunger and exhaustion. A search party found the tent with the bodies of Scott, Edward Wilson and Henry Bowers in November 1912. Frank Debenham, a geologist on Scott's expedition, became the driving force behind a research institute in their memory, and the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge became one of the world's leading centres of polar science.
I Backs e il punting in breve
The Backs is the stretch where several colleges, including Queens', King's, Clare, Trinity and St John's, back onto the River Cam with lawns and meadows running down to the water. The best way to see them is from a punt, a flat-bottomed boat pushed along with a long pole. In Cambridge, punters traditionally stand on the flat deck at the back, while in Oxford they usually punt from the other end.
Cosa mangiare a Cambridge
- Chelsea bun: una girella appiccicosa piena di uvetta di Corinto. Fitzbillies, in Trumpington Street, li sforna da quando ha aperto nel 1920.
- Cambridge burnt cream: il nome locale della crème brûlée, un dolce legato da tempo al Trinity College.
- Afternoon tea a Grantchester: risali il fiume a piedi o in punt fino all’Orchard Tea Garden, dove alloggiò il poeta Rupert Brooke, e mangia scones su una sdraio sotto i meli.
- Una pinta al Eagle: oltre alla targa del DNA, la sala sul retro ha un soffitto coperto di nomi e numeri di squadriglia lasciati da aviatori della RAF e americani durante la Seconda guerra mondiale.
Da sapere prima di partire
- La maggior parte dei college fa pagare l’ingresso e chiude in certi periodi, soprattutto durante gli esami di maggio e giugno.
- Choral Evensong in King's College Chapel and several other college chapels is free and open to everyone during term.
- For a view over the rooftops, climb the tower of Great St Mary's, the university church opposite King's College.
- Ely e la sua cattedrale sono a un breve viaggio in treno e sono una facile gita di mezza giornata.
Scopri Cambridge con World City Trail
Our Cambridge scavenger hunt turns these sights into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around three hours, with about 35 minutes of walking. Along the way you visit Parker's Piece and the Scott Polar Research Institute.
A ogni tappa risolvi un enigma e ascolti una breve storia, al tuo ritmo. Puoi iniziare quando vuoi e giocare in italiano, inglese, tedesco, francese, spagnolo o olandese.
Gioca alla caccia al tesoro di Cambridge →
Fatti verificati a ottobre 2026.