The Ave Herald

The town of Ave Maria draws visitors for academic and spiritual reasons, as well as thousands who are curious about the town and want to see it for themselves.

Ave Maria is unique in America - a town with residential neighborhoods, offices and other commercial buildings, all built around the first Catholic University founded in the United States in 20 years.

The best way to see Ave Maria is either on foot or on a bicycle. You can not only get around the town easily, but also enjoy miles of nature trails. .

The heart of Ave Maria is an area called La Piazza - six three-story buildings on semi-circle around the signature church, the Ave Maria Oratory, across from the university campus. The buildings surrounding the Oratory on Annunciation Circle have retail shops and other businesses at street level. Five of the buildings have residential condominiums on the 2nd and 3rd floors and one has offices above the retail space.

La Piazza, inspired by the Italian town of Sienna in Tuscany, evokes the charm of a European village with outdoor cafés, shops and residences. If you're visiting, plan time to enjoy a meal or coffee, and to poke around the various shops.

A "can't miss" stop in Ave Maria is the site where acclaimed sculptor Márton Váró is creating a large bas-relief of The Annunciation out of 100 tons of white marble. The finished sculpture, which will be 35 feet high, will adorn the front of the oratory in the town center. At left, Mr. Váró finishing the head of Mary. The creation of The Annunciation sculpture is one of the largest works of art ever created in public, and visitors can watch the work in progress almost every day on the university mall, across from the oratory. More details about this can be found in an Ave Herald story here, which has links to several other stories on the sculpture's progress and Mr. Váró's background.

 A good place to start exploring Ave Maria is at the University Visitors' Center, which is on the corner on your right if you are facing the oratory. The Visitors' Center has maps of the town, walking tours of the university, information on events and often offers guided tours of the oratory. They also have complete information on applying to the university. If you are a student interested in attending Ave Maria, advance arrangements are recommended. Details are here.

If you are interested in real estate at Ave Maria, the Pulte Homes welcome center is at 5076 Annunciation Circle, on the corner of Roma Ave. The welcome center also has maps of the town and a large relief map showing the various neighborhoods.

There is further information in the Ave Herald sections on Where to Eat, Where to Shop and Recreation.