Victoria

Victoria is the capital of the Canadian British Columbia Province, located on the southern end of Vancouver Island, near Canada’s Pacific Ocean coast. Victoria is the 7^th most densely populated city in Canada, which is denser than the population of Toronto. Victoria is the most southern big city in Western Canada. It is located around 100km from Vancouver and around 100km from Seattle.

Victoria is considered “the most British” city in Canada, and this reputation is due to the big number of British retirees who moved to the country’s warmest city. Here in the city you can see London’s red double-decker busses, and there are a few typical English shops and bars in the city center. Victoria is known for its attractive, flower-decorated square located in the ancient Empress Hotel, where every day at 5 o’clock in the afternoon the tourists are served traditional English tea.

Named after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and at that time of North America too, Victoria is one of the oldest cities in the Pacific North-West. The British settlement was established in 1843. Today Victoria has kept many of its historical buildings and specifically the two most known attractions – the Parliament Buildings (finished in 1897 and home to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia) and Empress Hotel (opened in 1908). The city’s China Town is the second oldest such neighborhood in North America after the one in San Francisco. The coastal people of the First Nations created communities in the region long before the local settlement, probably a few thousand years earlier.

Known as “the garden city”, Victoria is an attractive and popular tourist destination with a regional technology sector that has turned into the biggest private industry generating income. Victoria is in the top 20 world cities based on quality of life. It is popular among boatmen with its strong coastlines and beaches. Victoria is also popular among retirees who come here to enjoy the moderate and usually snowless climate of the region, as well as its usually calm tempo.

Victoria is a major tourist destination with more than 3.5 million visitors per year, who add more than a billion dollars to the local economy. Additionally, more than 500 000 daily visitors come on cruise ships, docking in Ogden Point near the city inner harbor. Many whale-watching tourist companies operate from this harbor thanks to the often-seen whales near the coast.

There are many night clubs, theaters, restaurants and bars in Victoria’s city center. Moreover, many regional and public events also take place there. The fireworks for Canada Day and for many other musical festivals and cultural events, attract tens of thousands of visitors to the city center. Rifflandia Festival and the electronic music are other musical events that attract crowds to the city center.

Victoria City is also a destination for meetings and conferences. Every year Swiftsure International Yacht Race attracts boatmen from all over the world to participate in the boat race in the waters near Vancouver Island, and the Victoria Dragon Boat Festival gathers more than 90 teams from all over North America.

Victoria Harbor has three parts – outer harbor, used by deep-sea vessels, inner and middle harbor, used by coastal and industrial traffic. It is protected by a deep and wide opening. This is an active harbor, a tourist attraction and a cruise destination.

Beacon Hill Park is the central urban green place. Its area of 75 hectares is right next to the southern coast of Victoria and consists of many playgrounds, gardens, exotic plants and animals such as wild peacocks, a zoo and a view towards Strait of Juan de Fuca. Cricket has been played in Beacon Hill Park since the mid-19^th century.

British Columbia Parliament Buildings, Empress Hotel, Victoria Police Museum, the gothic Christ Church Cathedral and National Geographic Theater in Royal British Columbia are located in the heart of Victoria City center. The Maritime Museum of British Columbia, Emily Carr House and Victoria Bug Zoo are also located there. The oldest (and the most intact) Chinatown in Canada is in Victoria center. Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is located close to the city center in Rockland neighborhood a few blocks from Castle Craigdarroch and Government House, which is the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.

Many other buildings with historical significance are also in central Victoria. Some are the buildings of St. Ann’s school from 1845; Helmcken House from 1852, built for Victoria’s first doctor; Congregation Emanu-El from 1863, the oldest functioning synagogue in Canada; St. Ann’s Academy, built as a catholic school; Church of Our Lord from 1874; St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church from 1890; Metropolitan Methodist Church from 1890 (now Victoria Conservatory of Music); St. Andrew’s Cathedral from 1892 and the Crystal Garden from 1925 – originally a salt water swimming pool, later restored as a conservatory and turned into a tourist attraction.