Thursday, September 24, 2015

Monuments At The Park

There are a series of monuments, memorials, and artistic works in Rideau Falls Park on and around Green Island. This pillar features Iznik tiles, from a town in Turkey known for these ceramics. It was a gift from the embassy of Turkey in 2002.


This sculpture, called Reflections, is dedicated to Canadian aid workers, some of whom have paid a steep price for working in international aid with their lives. It was placed here in 2001.


Other monuments here in the park are military monuments. This one honours the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, a force of volunteers who fought in the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1939.


This monument, on the other hand, is in memory of Canadian, British, and other Commonwealth air force airmen and women who, during the course of the Second World War, lost their lives in this part of the world, serving or training for the war effort. It was unveiled in 1959 by Queen Elizabeth II. 


This last monument is the Artillery Monument. Canadian field gun crews have served and continue to serve in our armed forces.


There is a new monument here, right next to this last monument, that I'll show you tomorrow.

35 comments:

  1. The item depicted in your first photo reminds me of one here in Montreal, located in the Botanical Gardens, William.

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  2. I especially like the first two. The second one is very simple yet meaningful.

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  3. You have a lots of monuments. I like the first one, it so different as usually.
    Have a happy thursday.

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  4. Interesting monuments! May they be a reminder that peace is a precious good.

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  5. I did not know there was a monument to the forces that fought in Spain.

    Tomás.

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  6. Interesting pieces of works. Greetings!

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  7. I love monuments and learned a new word today, "Iznik."!

    Janis
    GDP

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  8. So many fights in so many places, will it ever end?

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  9. A fine collection of monuments William.

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  10. What a great park William. Love the monuments.

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  11. So many interesting monuments!

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  12. These monuments make you stop and consider the horror and waste of war.

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  13. It's amazing how many monuments and sculptures there are in Ottawa!

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  14. @Linda: I'll have to feature it again. I'm thinking of being back up this way for fall colours.

    @Kay: the artist had just the right touch with that second one.

    @Orvokki: we seem to be a city of monuments at times!

    @Merisi: I quite agree.

    @Tomas: it's not something that's really covered in our history either, but they were among the international volunteers that went out and fought there.

    @Blogoratti: thank you!

    @Janis: I wouldn't mind visiting the town Iznik and seeing the ceramic work close at hand.

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  15. @Marianne: I doubt it.

    @Grace: I thought so!

    @Luis: it is a very pleasant park indeed.

    @VP: tomorrow's monument stands out as well. I'm looking forward to the responses for that.

    @Red: they really do.

    @EG: we have a lot!

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  16. All interesting, beautiful and sacred.
    MB

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  17. A wonderful set of memorials. It really is a shame that we continue to have a need for more and more of these.

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  18. Ottawa sure has a lot of monuments!

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  19. A wonderful set of monuments or memorials.

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  20. It's good to see these monuments, William!

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  21. A nice selection of monuments. I especially like the Turkish tiles.

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  22. i enjoy seeing how folks celebrate or honor service men & women. i wonder how it all starts? idea & all?

    don't get my brother started on Target. i enjoy the place every once in a while, but i don't shop there often. i guess i need to investigate why they left Canada. i am curious about that. ( :

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  23. A super post, so many lovely memorials and monuments.

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  24. i like the tiles and the 'gate' feature.

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  25. @MB: quite so!

    @Sharon: unfortunately we do.

    @Norma: no shortage of them, yes.

    @Nancy: it's quite a collection for a park.

    @Whisk: so do I.

    @RedPat: it is, yes.

    @Halcyon: I do too.

    @Beth: in some cases here, it's the idea of an individual. I think tomorrow's post is like that. As for Target, it came up here, lasted just a few years, and gave up. I think it completely misread the Canadian shopping environment.

    @Denise: thank you!

    @Tex: me too.

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  26. Fascinating stuff as always William, well done..

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  27. I'm glad we put up monuments. They show appreciation and serve to educate.

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  28. Interesting info on them and wonderful photos to . Hope your feeling better from that rotten cold . Thanks for sharing , Have a good day !

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  29. These are great monuments. I specially like the "Reflections" with those nice benches and the monument that dates from 1959.

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  30. A stunning series of memorials. Love the designs featured in the first and 4th photos. The Turkish tiles are particularly unique.

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  31. You're so good at covering Ottawa. When we lived there, in Nepean, we didn't really tour much!

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  32. @Geoff: thanks!

    @Linda: that they do.

    @Country Gal: thank you.

    @Mari: definitely.

    @Annette: indeed.

    @Jan: so do I.

    @Gemma: I agree.

    @Jennifer: I do get out and about.

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