Walking Tour, Halifax, NS, October 2015

Wherever possible, we like taking walking tours in the cities we visit. We had an excellent walk for more than two hours in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The tour concentrated on the history of the city -- which is rich indeed. The tour started at the Old St Paul's Anglican church. We had not previously heard of the great Halifax explosion of December 1917, that lay waste to the city. The church was not destroyed, but a piece of another building was lodged into a window frame and remains there even now.

Old St Paul's Anglican church, start of the tour

Looking across the square to City Hall.

The square is at the very center of the old city. Looking up the hill to the Halifax Citadel.

Looking to the Clocktower and citadel

The City Hall is a lovely Victorian building. Constructed in stone, it also survived the explosion although every window was blown out. The clock is set to the time of the explosion (9:04:35 AM).

City Hall

The end of Granville St has some of the most important buildings in Halifax. The Nova Scotia College of Art and Design has studios in several of the buildings.

Granville St

The only cast iron building in Granville St

Near the waterfront are the so-called "historic properties." Fortunately, a plan to tear them down for a motorway did not eventuate. Largely old warehouses, now repurposed.

The "historic properties"

Local Halifax stone and sandstone

The first bank in Canada

Sea front

The Public Works Department -- Art Deco meets Stalin

The Provincial Building houses the legislature. Must be the smallest legislative building in Canada!

The Provincial Building. Provincial legislature meets here.

Inside the amazing Art Deco interior of the Bank of Nova Scotia.

Those cubicles add absolutely nothing to this amazing chamber

A frieze of Cunard's clipper.

How is this for a seal in the floor?

The Catholic Cathedral. Unusually placed right in the downtown and constructed at a time of overt anti-Catholic feeling.

Just last year, the City opened this interesting public library. We spent a couple of hours in the coffee shop on the top floor just relaxing after the walk.

This artwork is done by a single artist.

Reading room on the fifth floor -- cantilevered out over the street.