On the one morning our ill-fated cross-country RV trip wasn’t a shit show, we stopped at University of Notre Dame and explored its beautiful Indiana campus.

Of course, we had to visit its centerpiece Main Building with its regal golden dome. Even though it was built in 1879, it’s actually the third building to stand on this site. The previous building was destroyed by a fire.

The golden dome was added in 1882 and was most recently regilded in 2005. Only about a fist-full of golf leaf is needed for this process.

The Dome is topped with a 19-foot-tall, 4000-foot tall Mary, the Mother of God, Notre Dame (“Our Lady”). Including this topper, the main building is 187 feet tall.

Although students used to eat, live and learn in the building and it still contains classrooms, it now serves mostly as a building for administration.