This morning we headed to the Halifax Citadel.
This is a huge star shaped fortification built on a hill with a commanding view
of the harbour. It housed a garrison of soldiers who defended the colony from a
land based attack. Halifax was defended from sea attacks by two other fortifications
on islands at the harbour entrance. It was situated on a site where three
previous wooden forts that all rotted away due to the climate and salt. This from
the website:
“It’s not an exaggeration to say Halifax, a
city on the sea, owes its existence to the Citadel. It was the large hill
overlooking the easily defended harbour below that led the British military to
found the town there in 1749. Among the first buildings constructed was a
wooden guardhouse on top of what would eventually be called Citadel Hill, with
Halifax’s first settlers building their homes at the base of the hill, closer
to the water. Over the years, as the fort grew, so too did the town, with much
of Halifax dedicated to supplying the soldiers with both essential supplies and
off-duty entertainment.”
It was expected to be completed in 6 years, but
because of numerous delays it took over 20. By the time it was completed it had
obsolete smooth bore canons, which has been superseded by the rifle bored
canons of the day that could fire greater distances with more accuracy and greater
damage. However, it served as a barracks for the military and served many uses
over the years. We took a guided tour of the site and then explored the Army
Museum of Halifax which is housed there. It is dedicated to the military
history of Nova Scotia and Canada and is very comprehensive.
From there we drove to Peggy’s Cove. The Cove itself
is very quaint and picturesque, the town is very colourful with houses painted
in different hues, and the Lighthouse is situated on a beautiful promontory of exposed
granite. It is one of the most photographed sites in Canada and it is easy to see
why. There is 360 degrees of natural beauty.
Then we headed towards Lunenburg, stopping on
the way to visit the memorial site of the SwissAir disaster that happed in September
1998 just off the coast of Peggy’s Cove.
When we got to Lunenburg we checked into a
small motel and then headed to the port for dinner. We found an outside patio
at the Fish Factory Restaurant and had a great seafood meal. Then we wandered
around the port viewing the ships including the Blue Nose II, which is the descendant
of the one on the back of the Canadian dime. Then we took a short drive through
this very hilly, colourful historic UNESCO sanctioned town before heading back
to the motel for the night.
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