Description:
The Main Building, with its famous Golden Dome, is a centerpiece of Notre Dames past and present. Today, it serves primarily as a headquarters for administration, although it still contains classrooms. At an earlier time it was where students learned, ate meals, and resided. This structure is actually the third building to stand on the site. It was built in 1879, the same year in which the previous building was destroyed by fire. The Golden Dome that caps the Main Building was a gift from the sisters of adjacent Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame's sister school. Atop the Dome is the 19-foot-tall, 4,000-pound statue of Mary, the Mother of God. Notre Dame means Our Lady.