Canada Guide
The Maritime Provinces
The Citadel
Opening time: Daily early May to June & Sept– Oct 9am–5pm; July & Aug 9am–6pm; Nov to early May 9am–5pm, but all exhibits are closed
Price: $10.90 in high season, $7.15 in shoulder season, free in winter and early spring
Website: www.pc.gc.ca
Up above the Clock Tower, the present fortifications of Halifax Citadel National Historic Site are Victorian, the fourth in a series dating from Edward Cornwallis's stockade of 1749. It's a star-shaped fortress, constructed flush with the crest of the hill to protect it from artillery fire, a design that makes it seem insignificant until you reach the massive double stone and earth walls which flank the deep encircling ditch. Close up, it's a forbidding approach to one of Britain's most important imperial strongholds, but despite their apparent strength, the walls, faced with granite and ironstone, were a source of worry to a succession of British engineers. The sunken design simply didn't suit the climate – in winter the earth in the ramparts and the water in the mortar froze and the spring melt brought regular collapses.
Free and entertaining half-hour guided tours (early May to Oct) of the Citadel depart from the information office in the barracks building every hour or so. Throughout the summer bagpipe bands and marching "soldiers" perform on the parade ground in period uniform and one of the cannons is ceremoniously fired every day at noon. If all this militarism leaves you cold, the Citadel is still worth a visit for the grand view from its ramparts over the city and harbour.