…the Legislative buildings

I will NOT call them the Parliament buildings, although they are called as such on other websites. Sorry, the Parliament buildings are in Ottawa!

Built between 1893 and 1989, the current BC Legislative Buildings replaced a series of small buildings called the Birdcages (apparently because of their shape – you can see pictures of them at the BC Archives http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_102/a_02776.gif) which lined Government Street.

The BC Legislative Buildings in Victoria (which is the capital of BC) are where our provincial Legislature sits and governs.  I’m not going to give a lesson on Canadian provincial politics, and I won’t talk to the specific politics that go on within these buildings. Especially not present-day politics. I always have something to say about the politics in BC, but today is not the time! What I will note are some interesting facts about the buildings themselves:

• The lights. Kevin hates the lights, but the iconic photo of the Leg is at a nighttime shot (see below) with the white lights that have illuminated it since, apparently, 1897 (before it was finished).
• There are sculptures of people all around the buildings. According to Wikipedia, there are 14 figures around the library, and “twelve figures of women, all allegorical, three around each of the building’s four domes.^”
• The gold guy at the top of the centre dome is Captain George Vancouver (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Vancouver)
• And just in case you are a choir wanting to perform at the Leg, remember that: Choirs performing in the Upper Rotunda are restricted to weekdays, from 12:00 – 1:00 pm, during September to April and are not permitted indoors during the summer season. Choirs are restricted to 50 in number. And choirs must perform without musical accompaniment. (https://www.leg.bc.ca/info/2-9.htm)

Now for the photo tour (all exterior…sorry) – much of it around the back where there are some interesting things I’ve never really looked at before.

Coming up from the front

There is always a war memorial

And now walking up the side

The view back to the street

Walking around to the back.  Why?  I don’t know.  I’ve never really walked around the back before…In the first picture below you can see the lights on the side of the building.

There are some first responders monuments

This is the library

You can see the figures up high

And an explanation below about who is whom

And the fountain behind the library surrounded by animals important to the indigenous peoples of BC

And, for whatever reason, the Speaker’s Chair!

And now, the Leg at night (not my shot…)

By Karl Stevens (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Victoria_-_BC_Legislature_building_and_fountain_at_night.jpg

Websites of interest

• BC Parliament Buildings at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Columbia_Parliament_Buildings
• BC Parliament Buildings at Tourism Victoria: http://www.tourismvictoria.com/listings/British-Columbia-Parliament-Buildings/64427/
• BC Legislature at Historic Places: http://historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=1634
• Parliament Buildings at the Travel and Adventure Guide: http://www.victoriabc.ca/victoria/parliamentbuildings.htm
• Parliament Buildings at Explore Vancouver Island: http://www.explorevancouverisland.com/parliament_buildings_victoria_bc.htm
• Public Use of Legislative Grounds: https://www.leg.bc.ca/info/2-9.htm
• List of BC Premiers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_premiers_of_British_Columbia