Sunday, June 12, 2022

The Citadel, Peggy's Cove and Lunenburg


The star shaped Citadel overlooking Halifax.
Halifax Clock Tower
Tour of the battery of the Citadel.
Parade grounds of the citadel.
Peggy's Cove

The Lighthouse at Peggy's Cove.


Tribute of fishermen created by William DeGarthe.
The BlueNose II
Lunenburg memorial to lost fishermen and ships.

Saturday, June 12th.

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 By the time it was completed it had obsolete smooth bore canons, which has been superseded by the rifle bored canons of the day that could fire greater distances with more accuracy and greater damage.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.


No comments:

Post a Comment