The Heritage Building

 Leaving Knox Church, seen here in the background, I headed to my next destination, next door. Ottawa City Hall has its grounds here on Elgin Street. At left is the contemporary monument Canadian Tribute To Human Rights. The square beside it has a fitting name- Nelson Mandela Square, as Mandela himself had a special friendship with the city and the country, and was named an honorary citizen of the nation.

City Hall has two portions, the modern building and this one. The Heritage Building started out life as a 19th century school and teacher's college, and its beautiful architecture is a strong contrast with the adjoining contemporary building where council chambers are found. 

The building dates back to 1875, with Gothic renaissance as its primary style. As seems fitting, it comes with its own ghost stories.

Coming inside, the first thing you see is the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame, where photographs of athletes, coaches, and others who down through time have made an impact on sports in Ottawa and surrounding communities are found. Display cases feature mementoes of various sports, such as hockey.

Or lacrosse- a sport I have never seen played, but which is one of the country's national sports.

Football has always been big in Ottawa.

And baseball has a long history here too. The Ottawa Titans are the latest team to play the game in the Capital, playing out of a stadium east of the core. Again, I've never attended a game there. 

The corridor beyond featured a display about the Dutch Royal Family and their time in Ottawa during the Second World War, when Crown Princess Juliana and her daughters found refuge here while the country was occupied by the Nazis.

Many of the period photographs in this display are by Yousuf Karsh, the Ottawa based portrait photographer whose reputation on the world stage was made early in the war with his iconic photo of Winston Churchill, and who would end up becoming the eminent photographer of the 20th century.

Princess Margriet was born in Ottawa. The photograph at top shows her on a 1968 visit to the hospital where she was born. At bottom, a Canadian war cemetery in the Netherlands at Christmas. We'll carry on here tomorrow.