Architecture In The Mist

The formal part of the tour ends with the Senate, and the guide escorted the group to the entrance for the Peace Tower and Memorial Chamber. This area lies one floor up from Confederation Hall, the central point of Centre Block. You can see decorations for the holidays arranged among the pillars and arches below. The arches allow for good photo ops of the space.

Turning around, I photographed this view of the window, with frosted glass.

Carvings are found throughout the buildings, including this one near that window.

Carvings are on the walls flanking the short corridor leading from the balcony towards the Memorial Chamber.

An antechamber is found before one goes into the Memorial Chamber, which includes the elevator to go up the Peace Tower. The elevator takes the visitor to the observation deck. The Peace Tower rises to a height of 92.2 metres (302 feet 6 inches). It replaced the 55 metre Victoria Tower, which was destroyed in the 1916 fire. An observation deck is situated beneath the clocks facing each direction. As I pointed out in the first post of this series, it was a foggy day. All the more so when you looked out the windows. I've been up here on sunny days and overcast, but never in a fog like this. Each section of window has upper and lower views looking out- the lower being ideal for children or someone in a wheelchair. This is a lower view, typified by the angles of the stone at left and right. I'm looking over the east side of Centre Block here. The East Block is barely visible in the upper right.

A bit further along this side, I photographed to the northeast direction over Centre Block. The Rideau Canal and the Ottawa River meet somewhere in that fog beyond, but they were invisible.

Beside me was this panel, one of several up here. The Peace Tower includes a carillon, a percussion instrument played from a keyboard instrument. It includes 53 bronze bells arranged below the deck, and is played by a musician, often around the noon hour.

This view looked up from this spot.

I came around to the south windows. This was the view looking out over the great lawn, snow covered in the fog. The Centennial Flame is down there at the far end of the path, but lost in the mist.

For today I finish with this view of the southwest corner. One of the grotesques on the tower is glimpsed looking out. I have more from here tomorrow.

In The Senate Chamber

Here we have another view of the stairs leading to the outside, accessible by Parliamentary personnel. The stained glass window you see is a recent one; it features both Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth in its colours. The portrait of King George III appears at left.

The tour went into the Senate. Canadian senators are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister. Their appointment is by region, and the number of senators is less than a third of  the MPs in the Commons- just over a hundred at present. It is stipulated as a chamber of sober second thought. 

The walls feature large war art paintings, on permanent loan from the Canadian War Museum. As the current Centre Block was built in the wake of the First World War, that conflict resonates through the architectural design of the building, making it more somber than its predecessor. Note the difference, for instance, with the Library of Parliament as I showed it to you. The war art, depicting battle fields and the lives of soldiers, is a reminder of the costs of war.

Speeches from the Throne are done here at the beginning of a new session, with the Governor General handling the entire affair. The MPs come over from the House of Commons to attend; the wall between the Senate and the lobby area can be removed so as to allow for the Commons to come in and bear witness.

Looking up gives us this view of the ceiling.

I looked back up at the balcony and photographed some of the woodwork.

One more look at the Senate Chamber. In January the Senate will be meeting in the Government Conference Centre for the duration of the work on Centre Block. I am hoping at some point to get in. I have been inside it during the Doors Open weekends some years ago, and it is quite an impressive building inside.

Coming back out, I paused in the lobby area between the Senate and the foyer to photograph this bust.

Surrounded By The Royals

The tour leaves the Hall of Honour and heads for the Senate, passing a series of portraits of Speakers of the Senate before coming to this large foyer area. A portrait of King George III can be seen in the background. The guide told us that some of the royal portraits here are paintings of paintings elsewhere, while others are commissioned originals.

A Christmas tree is here in the foyer at the moment.

Looking up, a view of the foyer ceiling catches the eye.

Here we have another portrait, Queen Victoria. 

King Edward VII is nearby.

Followed by King George V.

On the other side of the foyer, portraits of Queen Elizabeth and King George VI have been removed in preparation for the upcoming move over to West Block.

The finer details, like these carvings, caught my eye.

Today I leave off with a close up of the Christmas tree.

The Most Beautiful Chamber

I start today with more shots around the Library Of Parliament. I think that this space is the most beautiful room in the National Capital Region.

The panels here include this one referencing a procession outside Parliament in 1927 after the death of U.S. Army pilot Lieutenant Thad Johnson, who died in a plane crash at what was Hunt Club Field and is today the grounds of the Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport, while escorting Charles Lindbergh to Ottawa as part of a twelve plane escort tour for the famed pilot around North America.

This one is more recent, and includes some of the statistics of the building. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney is signing the Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement in 1988, an acknowledgment of the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.

One last look inside the Library, though I have kept an extra shot stashed away in a Victoria Day post for next May.

Back out in the Hall of Honour, I photographed some of the details, including this stained glass window.

And then there was this carving as part of the wall.

A large memorial plaque was nearby. It pretty much absorbed the light (I didn't think of switching on flash), making reading it impossible on a photograph, but fortunately it has a companion beside it with the same inscription.

The inscription in English and French notes that it is in memory of Bowman Brown Law, a Nova Scotia MP who died in the fire that destroyed the first Centre Block. I will be carrying on with this series, picking up in the Senate foyer. There's an event here late in the afternoon that I plan on attending, and depending on how many photos I take, I might have that tomorrow and then return to this series the following day. If I'm only taking one or two shots, I'll add them to the Ottawa Daily Photo Facebook page this evening.