…Bastion Square

I’ve already talked a bit about Bastian Square in my post on the Maritime Museum (see “M”), but here is a little piece on the square itself.

Bastion Square has been a hub in Victoria since 1864 when first occupied by the Hudson Bay Company. According to the Bastion Square website:

“The energy pulsing through the developing population was filled with a lust for adventure, carousing and lawlessness giving rise to the historic buildings of Bastion Square including the earliest luxury hotels (Burnes House (1886), and Beaver Building (1882), the first Supreme Court building (1889, now the Maritime Museum), The Board of Trade Building (1892), and the Chancery Chambers (1905).” (http://bastionsquare.ca/)

Today, Bastion Square runs for two blocks between Government Street and Wharf Street. It is only open to people on foot, although it once was open to traffic (it became a pedestrian mall in the 1960s), and is a hub of open-air market activities during the “Season” (you know the “Season” of which I speak…it’s right around the corner…). It is also home to restaurants and pubs that locals (yes, even Kevin and I eat at some of these places) hang out in all year round.

Of course, Bastion Square is haunted – some say it’s the most haunted place in Victoria, and according to experts in things paranormal, Victoria is an extremely haunted place. I noted under “M” that Bastion Square’s haunted reputation is supposedly because of the old Supreme Court Building (which became the Maritime Museum, and now stands empty), the site of the original gallows, where many men (probably all or mostly men anyway) met their deaths, and are apparently buried.

(Sorry for the repeated pics, but this is basically Bastion Square!)

Websites of Interest

• Bastion Square Public Market: http://bastionsquare.ca/
• Ghosts of Bastion Square: http://www.vanisleparanormal.ca/bastion-square-and-helmcken-alley/
• Victoria’s Haunted Past: http://www.islandtimesmagazine.ca/articles/past-articles/special-interest/victorias-haunted-past.html
• Bastion Square at Virtual Tourist: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/Canada/Province_of_British_Columbia/Victoria-903124/Things_To_Do-Victoria-Bastion_Square-BR-1.html

Part of the April A to Z Challenge.