Situated at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Central Virginia, Charlottesville is a fiercely modern city with a reverence for the past. Two United States presidents called Charlottesville home, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. Thomas Jefferson designed Monticello and the University of Virginia, both of which are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Adjacent to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello is James Monroe’s Ash Lawn-Highland, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Charlottesville also houses the largest collection of Aboriginal art outside of Australia, the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection at the University of Virginia. The Jefferson Theater, the Paramount Theater, and a number of music venues in the downtown area host regular performances in Charlottesville, adding to the rich arts and cultural scene.
