1. The Forks was made a national historic site to preserve ancient heritage, where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers join. The Forks is a shopping-entertainment district set in historic buildings. It was once a railway repair facility, then the buildings were restored to new shops. Visit Forks Market, where fruit and vegetable sellers set up in the main hall.
2. In the early C20th Winnipeg experienced an economic boom, and the Manitoba Legislative Building was built as a symbol of that wealth. The magnificent neoclassical building, made of local Tyndall stone and Italian marble, was completed in 1919. Note the neoclassical design, hidden hieroglyphics and Freemason symbols. The Legislative Chamber is where the members of the Legislative Assembly meet, watched by visitors.
The grounds display statues, monuments and perfect gardens. Atop the building, on the 72-meter dome, is The Golden Boy, a heavy four-meter bronze statue plated with 23 carat gold. It symbolises progress and agricultural prosperity.
3. The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is the city's new landmark examining human rights worldwide. From the ground floor, ascend over 6 levels and visit 11 galleries. Many issues have raised controversy so most Canadians believe it is an important cultural institution to visit.
4. The Manitoba Museum reflects on the province’s human and natural history: local history, culture and local geology. There is virtual time travel at the Urban Gallery, where the visitor walks down a 1920 replica of Winnipeg’s streets, complete with old log cabins. The nine permanent galleries include: Science Gallery, and Planetarium which displays the night sky. Highlights include ancient fossils, the Northern Lights, a recreated Hudson Bay Fur Trading Post and Nonsuch, C17th replica trans-Atlantic ketch.
5. Winnipeg's oldest park, Assiniboine Park covers 445 hectares of lawns, trees and cultural facilities. The Assiniboine Zoo is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna. See Arctic creatures eg polar bears, and exotic species like the Siberian tiger, red panda and gorilla. There is a steam train, conservatory, playground and the historic Assiniboine Park Pavilion.
To the south, a nature reserve adjoins the park. Its Leo Mol Sculpture Garden combines art and nature in its park, museum and art gallery. See hundreds of garden sculptures, made by the famous sculptor Dr Leo Mol.
6. By 1900, ambitious architectural projects abounded. St Luke's Anglican Church is a fine example of Gothic Revival style. The main building (1904–05) and the attached parish hall (1913–14) were designed by local architects, allowing space for great stained glass windows and carved wooden rood-screen. The Toronto studio of Robert MacCausland produced most of the glass in the nave, with one special William Morris and Co window coming from the UK.
7. Built in 1907, Shaarey Shomayim Synagogue was used until the move to a new building on Wellington Crescent in 1949. The first building is now used as the Sudanese Canadian Community Centre.
Now House of Ashkenazi Synagogue is Winnipeg’s oldest functioning synagogue, built on the old Tabernacle Baptist Church site. Daily services have been held here since 1922. This was a time when there were many shules in Winnipeg, mainly in the city’s North End where most Jews lived then. The original building was burned in 1945 and was soon replaced by the present brick structure.
8. Winnipeg Art Gallery’s modern building is shaped like a ship bow with a rooftop sculpture garden that frequently hosts a range of performances. Being Canada’s oldest civic art gallery, it analyses the art and its influence over local life. It holds c25,000 artworks ranging from C15th European paintings to C21st American multi-media art. The collections include classic & contemporary art by Canadian, American, European and Inuit artists.
Art Gallery
9. Victorian and Edwardian commercial architecture typifies the city's Exchange District National Historic Site, the site of the financial institutions that powered Winnipeg until the 1920s. Now the Exchange District is reviving, with old warehouses, banks and business premises redesigned and re-used. The Exchange District is also a focus for the city's cultural life, with venues like the Pantages Playhouse Theatre, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre and Manitoba Centennial Centre: drama, ballet, concerts and opera.
10. Royal Canadian Mint makes 55 billion coins for Canada (and other countries). Follow the whole minting process in the tour and see interactive displays. The very modern, triangular-shaped building has tropical gardens and fountain.
11. In 1818 Father Joseph-Norbert Provencher went to Manitoba to help locals, Hudson’s Bay Company and Scottish Lord Selkirk found the first Roman Catholic cathedral west in Western Canada: St Boniface Cathedral. This beautiful piece of French Romanesque architecture has been rebuilt several times due to fire, though note the modern cathedral still incorporates the historic façade. The cemetery has old gravestones from the very first settlers.
9. Victorian and Edwardian commercial architecture typifies the city's Exchange District National Historic Site, the site of the financial institutions that powered Winnipeg until the 1920s. Now the Exchange District is reviving, with old warehouses, banks and business premises redesigned and re-used. The Exchange District is also a focus for the city's cultural life, with venues like the Pantages Playhouse Theatre, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre and Manitoba Centennial Centre: drama, ballet, concerts and opera.
10. Royal Canadian Mint makes 55 billion coins for Canada (and other countries). Follow the whole minting process in the tour and see interactive displays. The very modern, triangular-shaped building has tropical gardens and fountain.
11. In 1818 Father Joseph-Norbert Provencher went to Manitoba to help locals, Hudson’s Bay Company and Scottish Lord Selkirk found the first Roman Catholic cathedral west in Western Canada: St Boniface Cathedral. This beautiful piece of French Romanesque architecture has been rebuilt several times due to fire, though note the modern cathedral still incorporates the historic façade. The cemetery has old gravestones from the very first settlers.
with the original facade in front.
St Boniface Museum was built in 1846 for the Grey Nuns and was the first convent, girls' school, hospital and orphanage in the West. After restoration in 1967, it became a museum documenting the history of the province's French minority.
12. Visit the Manitoba Centennial Centre in Main St. Its Centennial Concert Hall and the Manitoba Theatre Centre are the home venues for the city's premier arts facilities: Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Manitoba Opera. Around the building, attractive fountains and sculptures fill terraced gardens.
12. Visit the Manitoba Centennial Centre in Main St. Its Centennial Concert Hall and the Manitoba Theatre Centre are the home venues for the city's premier arts facilities: Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Manitoba Opera. Around the building, attractive fountains and sculptures fill terraced gardens.
13. Louis Riel was the leader of the Metis (one of the three recognised Aboriginal peoples) and led two rebellions against the newly Federated Canadian government (1869, 1884). He was executed in 1885! The Louis Riel House Historic Site, in the Red River-frame style, is typical of early settler homes and has been restored to reflect social, economic and cultural life then.
14. The lovely Kildonan Park has splendid gardens, bird watching, a Witch's Hut and swimming pool. The park is spread over 99 acres and has 3 ks of recreation trails along the Red River. Kildonan Park is also home to Canada's oldest open-air theatre, Rainbow Stage.
16 comments:
A very informative post as I knew nothing about Winnipeg.
A great synopsis of my home town. A great friendly city that has something for everyone 🥰
Fun60
same here - totally unknown.
When my mother's family left Russia, two thirds of the cousins migrated to Melbourne and one third to Winnipeg. Thus most family reunions over the decades were in those two cities. Otherwise my parents' generation (and mine) would probably never have visited this special inland city.
Anonymous
The Manitoba Legislative Building is majestic, but I have seen buildings like this in other cities. What I have never seen before, and recommend to visitors, are those facilities that tell the special story of this city: the Winnipeg Art Gallery, St Boniface Museum, Louis Riel House Historic Site etc. I also enjoyed Seven Oaks House Museum.
Hello Hels, You talked me into it--I am adding Winnipeg to my list of places to visit. If I ever find myself there (with luck in the Summer) I hope to explore all the sites you mention. As you know, I would mostly look forward to the older buildings and neighborhoods, and of course the museums.
--Jim
Parnassus
I would not normally visit any city that wasn't within an hour's drive of the open ocean. So I have never been to Uluru Northern Territory, for example, or Topeka Kansas.
But if you are seeking mostly older buildings, I would recommend the late Victorian and Edwardian commercial architecture in Winnipeg's Exchange District, starting from the 1880s until The Depression. The Exchange District is also the centre for the city's cultural life, as I noted in the post: Manitoba Centennial Centre, Pantages Playhouse Theatre and Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.
Nice Article...
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Alu
many thanks. I find readers are very knowledgeable about London, Paris, Oxford, Amsterdam etc etc, but that very few of my readers know about Winnipeg. You might like to read an earlier post on Winnipeg's history:
https://melbourneblogger.blogspot.com/2014/09/winnipeg-little-kiev-new-jerusalem-and.html
A fine way to travel across Canada is by train. VIA Rail Canadian leaves from Toronto, goes to Winnipeg, then to Jasper and finally arrives in Vancouver. The bedrooms for two people are comfortable and the restaurants are lovely.
Train Man
absolutely right. For people who don't like flying or want to spend longer time examining the continent from one side to another, the trains are amazing. Joe and I went in the other direction, from Vancouver to Kamloops to Banff to Calgary, and loved it. But four days was enough.
It's not a place we hear much about, which can be a good thing as it indicates it is a peaceful and low crime city. So far north I expect winter is not at all the time to visit.
Andrew
When the Russian immigrants arrived in the big Canadian cities to the east, the Canadian government agreed to set them up with land and houses, as long as the newcomers moved into the remote prairies. This suited everyone, allowing the Russians to work agricultural space, set up small groceries shops, and build their own Russian speaking schools, churches and synagogues in Winnipeg etc.
But the original settlers' children and grandchildren wanted less isolation and more summery weather. Many of my younger cousins moved to beautiful Vancouver.
I have a cousin living in Winnipeg. My cousins in Vancouver and Toronto have always said it's a dump and too cold for them! It seems like they missed out on a lot! I believe Winnipeg has a healthy Jewish population of well over 10,000. You have certainly brought out the best and made me want to visit - but in High Summer only...
CLICK HERE for Bazza’s anxiously adroit Blog ‘To Discover Ice’
Hi Hels - I never got inland or saw Winnipeg- which at some stage I hope to see. The Human Rights Museum I gather is just brilliant - so also on my list to visit. But I do need to learn a great deal more about the indigenous populations and their histories - which I hope to do without needing to go back. So much to learn about Canada ... so interesting to see your notes on your family's place of living - cheers Hilary
bazza
When the government built the National Transcontinental Railway from the east coast to Winnipeg at the turn of the century, it was an ideal opportunity for isolated rural communities to develop into a city. When there was a much bigger Jewish population in the city in 1939, there were apparently 14 shules. Now there are only 14,000 of your and my cousins in Winnipeg, so only 4 shules need stay open.
A word of warning about High Summer. Originally I didn't know to wear suntan cream, hats and t-shirts in Canada in July and got myself burned to a frazzle in Calgary.
Hilary
In 2000 Winnipeg dreamt of building a museum that would explore human rights and by 2003 the Government of Canada, the Province of Manitoba and the City of Winnipeg agreed.
Construction began in 2009, and it was opened in 2014. But there was great controversy. The museum’s 10 core galleries examine themes including “Indigenous Perspectives,” “Canadian Journeys” and “Examining the Holocaust.” But having separate galleries dedicated to the Holocaust and the persecution of Aboriginal peoples in Canada made certain groups furious.
If you see the Human Rights Museum, I would love you to report back to us.
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