happening there. Lots! I went on a tour through the building and had a refresher on the art and displays there. I have toured City Hall before, but the art work has been updated and they also had some wonderful floral displays in the main part of the building, so it really wasn't "same old, same old". Go here and here for more details about our wonderful City Hall.
Outside in the courtyard I discovered something new and I guess it has been there a while. A little Peace Garden along with a water feature with an "eternal flame" and I snapped a couple of pictures here.
Next I headed along Queen Street to Osgoode Hall. This is one of the oldest government buildings in Toronto. It houses the Court of Appeal of Justice and the Law Society of Upper Canada, the governing body for lawyers and legal services in Ontario.
It is an amazing building with distinctive architectural features. It was constructed over 180 years and so has resulted in a maze of hallways and rooms. According to Wiki, it has the largest law library in all of the Commonwealth Countries.
From the Osgoode Hall Heritage Building site,
The heritage courtrooms are from the late
1800's. Convocation Hall boasts ten gorgeous stained glass
heraldic windows covering 4,000 years of law. The Great
Library touted as the most beautiful room in Canada has
an intricate ceiling, cork floors and triple cube design. The
rotunda is spectacular from the original tiling on the floor
to the elegant arched pillars surrounded by elaborate oil
paintings of former Chief Justices of the Province.
It is certainly a beautiful and distinctive building.
The Sign says "The furniture is old, treat it with care."
There were a few more places I poked around in and some places I will blog about in future blogs. However that is all for today and for the Doors Open tour. Of the 175 buildings which were open, I spent time in 5 of them. I guess I have lots to look forward to next year and in the years following.
The last bit to tell you about Open Doors Toronto, is that it is part of Open Doors Ontario! I picked up a magazine on my trek which provides the dates of 49 Cities in Ontario (and Northern New York State) which are having an Open Doors "day". Most of these events are in the late May through September time frame, so lots of time to plan any day trips to these towns to coincide with the Open Door event.
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Thank you for sharing your Open Doors Toronto experience. I found both posts interesting and informative. The photograph of the man and woman taking a picture of their family at the bench inside Osgoode Hall was particularly engaging to me. The stained glass windows that were in another photograph are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteIt is certainly a fantastic tour indeed. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.