Victoria is one of the most amazing cities in North America, with it being located at the southeastern most end of Vancouver Island which in itself is one of the most amazing islands in the whole world alongside North and South Island in New Zealand and those in Japan.
Overview of Downtown Victoria
The city is in a huge maze of waterways which interconnect as the inner and upper sections of the Harbor, and Warehouses are all over the Harbors that are in Victoria while most visitors only know of the old Harbor which is home of the Downtown Area and British Columbia's Parliament Buildings as well as The Empress Hotel and the Museum of History including The Town Hall.
Overview of Victoria's overall area
The Downtown area is set with Victorian and Edwardian Buildings that are on grid set streets, with this city being created as a Port because of the Timber of the island as far back as only 1861 and it was a city that grew extremely fast and especially after 1871 when the Province of British Columbia was created and admitted into the Dominion.
Two old Prints of Victoria from 1862 and 1889
The Downtown area today
The city of Victoria is governed from a beautiful Town Hall which has a foot 105 tall Gillet and Johnson clock tower and three types of facades alongside tall windows and pedimented dormer windows besides a metal mansard roof, where as for the exterior it is constructed of concrete and both brick and stone.
The Town Hall
The city has a famous Steel Bridge called The Johnson Bridge that connects the Downtown area with a neighboring section of the city that is across the inlet of the inner and upper sections of the Harbor, with this bridge being raised and lowered whenever Ships go back and forth but a new Bridge is being built today to replace the previous one because of that old one rusting away. Trains run through Vancouver Island towards Victoria, and connect the Downtown section with the opposite section of the inlet that connects the inner and upper sections of the Harbor.
The Johnson Bridge
The city is known for its Lampposts which are in a Cross setting and with Round White Lamps when Flowers are constantly beautifying the city and especially on the Lampposts of the city as they hang from the Cross settings in huge baskets, allowing the city to be even extra beautiful than it already is.
City Lampposts
The Parliament Buildings are a setting of elegant Stone Buildings with huge Cupolas and the main entrance is with a huge Arch while the side entrances are elegant and part of side buildings that are where the offices of the members of the Legislative Assembly are as well as the offices of the Premier and all members of the Cabinet. The interior has elegant Paintings in the Rotunda of the main Dome, and the Assembly Hall is one of the most beautiful in all Canada. At night the buildings are illuminated by Christmas Lights with this being a permanent setting for these Buildings by popular demand, allowing these buildings to have a luxurious setting all the time.
Right in front of the Buildings one sees the Statue of Queen Victoria facing the Harbor with her back to those Buildings, and that was because of the original version of the Crest of the Province which had the Sun downing upon the Union Jack. However, she never came to Vancouver Island let alone North America at any time for it was her great grandson George the Sixth who was the first Sovereign to come to North America back in 1939. A Fountain is in front of one side entrance, and in its center is a Statue of Birds flying from a Rock and various Rodents such as Badgers and Raccoons including Beavers being on the bottom of the Rock while Birds and such Animals are on the rim of this very elegant Fountain whose Water is illuminated every night. A Monument in honor of the men who died in the War to End All Wars is in front of the buildings in the lawns and gardens in front, and each Remembrance Day a wreath is placed on that Monument honoring all who did not return. That Monument is also dedicated to those who died in the Second World War either in Europe and North Africa or in the South Pacific, when it also in honor of those who died in The Korean War.
A setting of Statues are in Niches within the walls of the buildings, of which one Statue is of Maquinna who was a Chief of the Nuu-chah-nulth who lived in the area of Victoria in which he was killed by the Spaniards who briefly occupied a section of Vancouver Island from 1774 to 1791. Some sections of the buildings have darkened bricks, which are reminders of the great fire that gutted the buildings in 1957 and forced their reconstruction.
Sadly, there is a plan to move the whole Government of British Columbia and it's Legislative Assembly as well as its Lieutenant Governor over to Vancouver by 2027 in order to centralize the Government of the Province and not make it that it's Government has to always be on an island.
Right in front of the Buildings one sees the Statue of Queen Victoria facing the Harbor with her back to those Buildings, and that was because of the original version of the Crest of the Province which had the Sun downing upon the Union Jack. However, she never came to Vancouver Island let alone North America at any time for it was her great grandson George the Sixth who was the first Sovereign to come to North America back in 1939. A Fountain is in front of one side entrance, and in its center is a Statue of Birds flying from a Rock and various Rodents such as Badgers and Raccoons including Beavers being on the bottom of the Rock while Birds and such Animals are on the rim of this very elegant Fountain whose Water is illuminated every night. A Monument in honor of the men who died in the War to End All Wars is in front of the buildings in the lawns and gardens in front, and each Remembrance Day a wreath is placed on that Monument honoring all who did not return. That Monument is also dedicated to those who died in the Second World War either in Europe and North Africa or in the South Pacific, when it also in honor of those who died in The Korean War.
A setting of Statues are in Niches within the walls of the buildings, of which one Statue is of Maquinna who was a Chief of the Nuu-chah-nulth who lived in the area of Victoria in which he was killed by the Spaniards who briefly occupied a section of Vancouver Island from 1774 to 1791. Some sections of the buildings have darkened bricks, which are reminders of the great fire that gutted the buildings in 1957 and forced their reconstruction.
Sadly, there is a plan to move the whole Government of British Columbia and it's Legislative Assembly as well as its Lieutenant Governor over to Vancouver by 2027 in order to centralize the Government of the Province and not make it that it's Government has to always be on an island.
The Parliament Building
The Statue of Queen Victoria in front of the Parliament Buildings and The War Memorial
The Fountain
The Rotunda {including a photo by 2014 Fred Schand}
The Assembly Chamber
Maquinna's statue and remaining damage of the Fire of 1957
The buildings have on the hill slope which faces the Harbor in which these buildings are on top of a Lawn stating of WELCOME TO VICTORIA, and next to where the Parliament Building's are is the Royal British Columbia Museum which is the Royal Historical Museum for the Province. This is a modern structure which is with a huge Park that is full of Totem Poles as well as a real Longhouse with a Face on its front wall that scares off bad spirits, and this is Thunderbird Park. The Totem Poles are symbolic mentioning of Legends and Great Moments in the story of a First Nation's existence if not Ceremonial activities when dealing with religion, and this amazing cultural phenomenon is not only known to British Columbia and Alaska but Washington State.
The Royal British Columbia Museum
Thunderbird Park
Totem Poles are indeed a work of art
The Empress Hotel is the most important Hotel in all British Columbia and it is also the oldest, with the building being a huge setting of Brick that dominates the skyline of the Downtown area of which the walls have Moss dangling on each brick and the front façade is al elegant setting of windows above the main entrance with Moss covering the whole façade. The marquee above the main door states THE EMPRESS in White Letters, with the building being legendary for many reasons but one in particular is extremely special. Afternoon Tea was started in the 1840s by Her Grace Anna Maria, Duchess of Bedford in England and the Empress Hotel was built from 1904 to 1908, with this Hotel developing the greatest Afternoon Tea tradition in Canada or anywhere else outside of Great Britain. The legendary "Tea Lobby" is the original Main Lobby of the Empress Hotel, and it was there that Afternoon Tea in Victoria was developed as a true and real part of the culture.
The Empress Hotel {including one photo by pcuneo}
The Tea Lobby
The city has other Hotels with one being the great and modern designed Hotel Grand Pacific which was influenced by The Empress, when another Hotel is based on Elizabethean Architecture in honor of Queen Elizabeth the First and William Shakespeare with it being called The Abigail's Hotel.
The Hotel Grand Pacific
The Abigail's Hotel
The city has a few famous Churches and one is the Christ Cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Victoria when another is the Church of Our Lord, with Christ Cathedral being a post Gothic Cathedral that was developed as a Memorial Cathedral and its current construction was developed in the 1950s upon what was built in 1928 and 1933. The building was named as a Memorial Church in honor of the dead of The War to End All Wars, with the interior being as elegant in Gothic settings as the exterior and especially when dealing with the nave and the side halls. This is alongside a Rosetta Wheel Stained Glass Window on top the Arcaded entrance, and a setting behind the Altar of Stained Glass Windows on the nave. The Church of Our Lord is a Wooden Church that was built in the city, and it is also of Gothic settings but in a frame totally made out of wood when Stained Glass Windows are on the building.
The Christ Cathedral
The Church of Our Lord
The Chinatown of Victoria is one of the oldest in North America alongside the Chinatown's of San Francisco and Seattle as well as Los Angeles and the one in Vancouver, with the main Gate being with a Dragon Wing and its buildings are all Victorian with Chinese Signs in Mandarin or Cantonese. This Chinatown is home to a Pagoda like Building that is home to the Consolidated Benevolent Association which is a Private School for Chinese Canadians, while Fan Tan Alley is an Alley in the Chinatown that is popular because of Bars and Restaurants. During the Moon Cake Festival in this Chinatown delicious Moon Cakes are baked in honor of ancient rebels hiding messages in Moon Cakes, when huge Lanterns are made in the shape of Pagodas and the Houses of the rebels as well as Temples. As for Chinese New Year great Dragons parade down the street of this great Chinatown when Fireworks are common in this amazing celebration, just like it is in Hong Kong and Singapore as well as Vancouver and San Francisco.
The Gate of Chinatown
Fan Tan Alley
Moon Cakes
Most buildings outside of the Downtown area are low buildings, with the city being home to a great Botanical Gardens which is called the Butchart Gardens, and it was made out of an old Quarry with the Gardens having various plants set on the cliffs of the old Quarry that look like the Chocolate Room seen from Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. The beautiful Japanese Garden in this great Botanical Garden is one of the greatest in all North America, but sadly it must be mention that Internment Camps were built in Canada during all that was The War in The Pacific.
The Butchart Gardens {including one photo by John R Rogers}
