River Viewpoints

My Doors Open visits included a new spot on the list of sites, close to the South African High Commission (which, unfortunately, cancelled its participation at the last minute). This modern building has stood at the northwest edge of the New Edinburgh neighbourhood for years, at 50 Sussex Drive. It had been empty for some time, but the Royal Geographical Society Of Canada moved into it as a new headquarters in time for the 150th anniversary of the country last year, and opened it up to the public for Doors Open this year.

The Society is an educational organization that funds research and expeditions. Among its ventures is the magazine Canadian Geographic; a number of covers were assembled on banners adorning the walls.

This display screen allowed satellite views of given locations entered into the computer.

This large map was about populations of First Nations people in the country.

The building comes with terrific views on its north side, from inside and outside, of the Ottawa River.

Here we have another look at the building itself.

The building neighbours the east branch of the Rideau Falls, seen here as it spills into the Ottawa River. One of the tourist boats was in the area while I was here, and got up close to the waterfalls.

Stadacona Hall

This building, called Stadacona Hall, stands in the Sandy Hill neighbourhood, near a number of other embassies and diplomatic missions. Built in 1871 for a lumber baron, it was home from 1878-1883 to Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and his family before their move to Earnscliffe, another manor of the era. It has housed other diplomatic missions, and today serves as the High Commission for Brunei Darussalam. A High Commission is the same as an embassy, just used for those countries within the Commonwealth. It first took part in Doors Open last year, and its return again this year was welcome.

It is a beautiful building, both inside and out, though I took no shots inside, as there was a note last year about photo restrictions and I assume the same applied this year. Inside there were staffers speaking about the country, and tourism brochures. Brunei is divided into two parts on the island of Borneo, occuping a small portion of the island which is otherwise taken up by Indonesia and Malaysia. 

Dominicans

The Dominican University College participated again in Doors Open this year, and I stopped in. The building dates to 1899, when it was first opened as a convent and a house of study. It houses a parish, Saint-Jean-Baptiste, and the members of the Dominican priory serve today as faculty for a small university offering bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in the fields of theology and philosophy. This is the church sanctuary. A priest had come in to prepare for a mass a little while later.

The altar had some very impressive carving, done on site in a woodshop on the grounds.

This painting is of St. Dominic himself, and resides in one of the corridors.

One of the students took me about on a tour. The student body is small- over a hundred in total, but that's to be expected with two programs. This room is a cafeteria for the students, and beforehand was used for meals by the priory. Before the Vatican II reforms, priests would eat in silence.

Another room beyond that is today a lounge used by the priory. The student explained that the priests unwind here in what's a comfortable space- reading, perhaps playing cards (no money involved, obviously) between classes or in the evenings. This formidable chair was a gift from a Speaker of the House of Commons during Laurier's time, the very chair he used during his tenure in the job. 

The church sanctuary itself is not as long as it originally was. It was shortened at one point, and the college library was inserted inside. Some of the stained glass of the extended sanctuary remains in place within the library, and so if you're working at a desk, you might have these right beside you.

The library stocks items pertaining to the disciplines taught, but also related fields like history and literature. It has quite a collection, some of it dating back centuries, such as these items that were in a display case, going back to the 1500s.

I came out to the workshop area, where I had a chance to chat with the man who had carved the sanctuary altar, among other things. The walls were covered with various tools, things that my dad would appreciate- he would have made a good carpenter himself, but seems to have lacked the patience to have gone through apprenticeship. 

The building design is wrapped around an inner courtyard, planted with trees, One spot as I took my leave allowed the visitor to step out onto a balcony and have a look around.

Knox

Picking up where I left off yesterday, this is the stained glass window hanging over the east end of Knox Presbyterian, above the altar. Its theme is the early life of Christ, and its glass contains religious symbols tied to the New Testament. Scottish artist William Wilson designed this window, which was installed in 1955.

The stained glass window on the west end of the church looms over the balcony area. It was installed in 1968, and again designed by Wilson. He dictated its design to aides- at this point in his life he had lost his vision. It takes as its theme the Book of Revelations- the Holy Trinity can be seen on it, as well as the Four Horsemen at the right.

Here we have the view from the balcony down onto the sanctuary below.  The church is named for John Knox, as is so often the case with Presbyterian churches, as he founded the church as a Protestant reformer in Scotland.

There is a small sitting area off the balcony near the staircases to descend down to ground level.

And I finish with a last view of the sanctuary.

Knox

Knox Presbyterian Church was first established in 1845 at another location in the city. Its current church location dates to the beginning of the 1930s. The church combines aspects of English Gothic and Norman styles of architecture, and neighbours City Hall on Elgin Street.

During my Doors Open visit, I chatted with one of the congregation members, who oversees the gardens outside around the church and its adjoining hall. This pear tree was gifted by the city last year for the 150th anniversary of the country.

Inside, the sanctuary is unadorned but beautiful, with columns and two sets of stained glass windows at either end, done by the same artist years apart.

Plaques note the service of congregation members in two world wars.

The carvings on this font caught my eye.

As did the pulpit. I will have more from inside the church tomorrow.