Parliament Buildings
Édifices du Parliament

Parliament Buildings is the name for the Canadian parliament buildings located on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. The large area with its many castle-like Neo-Gothic buildings was military until Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the Canadian capital, whereby a new government complex was to be built.

Barrack Hill, today called Parliament Hill, was chosen as the seat of government because of its good location above the city and the river. It also made it easier that the Crown already owned the piece of land. In 1859, a competition was launched for the design of the government complex, and 298 proposals were received.

A proposal by Thomas Fuller and Chilion Jones in Victorian High Gothic was chosen for the central part of the facility, while Thomas Stent and Augustus Laver’s design was chosen for the design of the buildings to the east and west of the central structure. The sophisticated use of Gothic architecture was intended to contrast with the neoclassicism of the US capital.

Construction began in 1859 and the later King Edward VII laid the foundation stone for the central block. The great facilities were not yet finished when three British colonies, which are today the provinces of Ontario, Québec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, formed the Canadian federation. Ottawa remained the capital and construction continued.

The Parliament Buildings on Parliament Hill were completed in 1876 and the complex immediately became an Ottawa landmark. The buildings stood until 1916, when the central block burned, so it had to be rebuilt. The original foundation stone was relaid, and as a new central element, the 92-metre-high Peace Tower was erected as a memorial to fallen Canadians during the First World War.

Today you can take a nice walk in the area and the green surroundings along the Ottawa River. The central part of the complex lies to the northeast, where the Center Block with the Peace Tower in the middle and the side buildings East Bock and West Block on either side of the axis through the Center Block. At the back of the building is the Library of Parliament.

From here you can walk south-west along Wellington Street, where many of the area’s other government buildings are located. The best known of these are the Confederation Building from 1928-1932 and the Justice Building, which was built 1935-1938. After these you can see the Canadian Supreme Court building.

You can enjoy the many beautiful buildings from the outside, and you can also visit several of the buildings on Parliament Hill. That way you can experience Canadian democracy. Most of the buildings can be seen on guided tours, while there is also an exhibition where you can explore for yourself.

Rideau Hall

Rideau Hall is the official residence of the Canadian monarch and of the Governor General of Canada, who is the monarch’s representative in the country. It is a status that Rideau Hall shares with the Citadelle de Québec in the city of Québec. However, this has not always been the purpose of the large palace.

The building was thus built in 1838 as a residence for Scotsman Thomas McKay, and he named the house after the large construction of the Rideau Canal. After Queen Victoria’s choice of Ottawa as the Canadian capital, the place was set up as the monarch’s residence on visits to the city, and the formal name became Government House.

When Bytown was chosen as the capital of Canada, a design competition was launched in 1859 for a new parliamentary complex. The project included a newly built mansion for the Governor-General, but for financial reasons the mansion was not built, and that was the reason why Rideau Hall was chosen.

Thomas McKay’s mansion was modest in size, and the year after the lease was entered into in 1864, the house was extended, which happened repeatedly to ensure a suitable setting both as a residence and as a representative place for, not least, the Governors-General’s many formal affairs.

You can visit Rideau Hall on organized tours, where you can experience the many beautiful halls that make up the mansion’s State Rooms. It is here that the Governor General performs official duties, welcomes dignitaries and honors Canadians. The mansion is home to a fine collection of Canadian art and furniture, which you also see along the way.

National Gallery of Canada
Musée des beaux-arts du Canada

The National Gallery of Canada is one of the leading art museums in Canada. It was established by the Canadian Governor General in 1880 in connection with the founding of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. The museum was then located at various addresses, such as in the Victoria Memorial Museum building, until the current museum building was built for the purpose and opened in 1988.

The museum was built in glass and granite to a design by Moshe Safdie, and the building has an exciting modern architecture that was inspired by history to, among other things, look like a cathedral, where concrete pylons were used in the same way as buttresses on Gothic cathedrals. At the main entrance, the large design is emphasized with the transition of the facade to a glass dome.

The National Gallery of Canada’s permanent collection contains countless works representing numerous artistic movements and eras in art history. The gallery has a large and varied collection of not least paintings, sculptures, drawings and photographs. The museum’s collection consists mainly of works by Canadian artists, who are the focus of the institution.

The bulk of the Canadian collection includes works from the 18th century French possessions to the present day. The collection is varied and includes paintings from before the formation of Canada, abstract art and other post-war art and much more. Canada’s indigenous population is of course also represented in the collections and exhibitions.

Canadian Museum of History
Musée canadien de l’histoire

The Canadian Museum of History is Canada’s fine national museum of human history with a natural focus on Canadian culture and history. Here there are many exciting depictions and interesting effects in the exhibitions, and you can see, among other things, the First Peoples Hall about Canada’s original population, and the Canadian History Hall about the country’s history.

While Ottawa is located in the province of Ontario, the Canadian Museum of History is located in the city of Gatineau in the province of Quebec on the opposite bank of the Ottawa River from the capital. Here is the architecturally exciting museum building that was designed by Douglas Cardinal and where the Canadian Museum of History has been located since 1989.

The history of the museum dates back to 1856, when the Geological Survey of Canada founded a museum that expanded with an anthropological collection in 1910. It later became the National Museum of Canada, which was later divided into several museums. The Canadian Museum of History took on its current name and focus in 2013.

Château Laurier

Château Laurier is a large and well-located hotel that was built in the French neo-Gothic château style as one of Canada’s many beautiful railway hotels. They were magnificent ones that were opened along the railways across Canada to offer travelers a luxurious setting during their train journeys in the great country.

Château Laurier opened across from Ottawa’s Parliament Buildings in 1912 and was connected to the then Union Station through a tunnel. Like other railway hotels of the time, the Château Laurier was also beautifully situated in the countryside along the Ottawa River and at Major’s Hill Park.

It was the Grand Trunk Railway that built the hotel from 1909 to 1912. It was named after Canadian Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who had helped secure the location for the new hotel. Château Laurier is still fitted out as a luxury hotel, and it stands today as one of Ottawa’s best-known buildings.