Ottawa Views

including the Parliament of Canada photos

Almost all these photos were taken by myself (Hanif Bayat)

Most of the bellow photos were taken in June and a few of them were taken in January

Ottawa is the capital city of Canada, where the Canadian parliament is located. Ottawa-Gatineau is located at the border of Ontario and Quebec and can be considered as a real bilingual Canadian city. The part of the city that is in the province of Quebec is called Gatineau and it is completely different from the other part of city in Ontario (Ottawa). Ottawa and Gatineau are separated by the Ottawa river. It is around four-five hours drive from Toronto and it can be reached from Montreal in near two hours. You can find lots of cultural attractions such as Canadian heritage, museums and beautiful architectures in Ottawa. If you love history and culture, Ottawa by sure can be a wonderful trip destination for you.

• Parliament Hill (In summer:):

• Just south of the Ottawa river in the downtown Ottawa, the parliament buildings are located. The most famous structure in the parliament hill  is the Peace tower in the Center Block, which give one an option to observe some of the best views of the Ottawa city . The parliament building and the Peace tower, including the top floor of the tower, are open to the public and they attract millions of visitors per year

• During Night & Winter:

• During new year holidays nights, when Ottawa is really cold, Parliament buildings is the main tourism attraction of Ottawa. Specially during nights, the center block of Parliament Hill buildings and the Peace tower are illuminated by different colorful lights. Although Ottawa is really cold during Winter time, it has more sun and blue sky than Ontario southern cities such as Toronto.

• Inside Parliament:

• It is free to go inside the Canada parliament and see its beautiful architectures. Some of the below photos are taken inside the memorial chamber of parliament (inside the peace tower), which is dedicated to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for Canada.

• Inside Parliament Library:

• One of the most beautiful parts of Canadian parliament is its library. This library is fortunately saved from 1916 fire and it has kept almost the same structure as it was in 1876. 

• Inside Canada Senate:

• Senate is part of Parliament of Canada and it is kind of similar to British house of lords. Its members are elected by Governor General of Canada on the advice of Canada prime minister for almost lifetime (until the age of 75).  Each legislation of house of common (typically known as parliament) should be approved by the senate also, however the Senate almost approves all the legislations.

Parliament of Canada official website

• Ottawa Landscapes:

• Theses landscape photos, except the last two ones, were taken from the top floor of the Peace tower. One can see some of the bridges (Boulevard Maisonneuve, Pont Alexandra and Pont McDonald) on the Ottawa river, which connect Ottawa (Ontario) and Gatineau (Quebec), in the below photos.

• In these landscape photos, which were taken from the last floor of the Peace tower, one can find the Confederation Building, Ottawa downtown and some other touristy areas around the Ottawa River

• Ottawa is by sure among the ten coldest capital cities in the world. Just a few capital cities such as Ulaan-Baatar (Mongolia) and Astana (Kazakhstan) are colder than this capital city. In these photos, you can see the frozen Ottawa river during Winter time.

Some of the below photos were taken from beside Canada Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, beside Pont Alexandra, when we were walking over the frozen Ottawa river in January.  As can be seen most of the Ottawa river was frozen in the freezing cold weather of -20 centigrade.

• Around Downtown:

•  

• National War Memorial in Confederation Square, which is very close to the Peace Tower and Parliament Hills, is a monument regarding both World War I and II.

• Central Post Office of Canada, which is located west side of Confederation square, is one of the historic buildings in downtown Ottawa.  

• One of the main streets in downtown Ottawa is Wellington Street. One can find lots of beautiful architectures and buildings in this street.

• One of the main streets of Ottawa downtown is Metcalfe Street. One can find beautiful streets and statues along this street.

• There are several museums, beautiful architectures, bridges and interesting boulevards around the parliament hill in downtown Ottawa. For example the National Art Gallery and the beautiful church that is located beside it, pont Alexandra and the Confederation Boulevard are among them.

1. Just on the other side of the Ottawa river, in the city of Gatineau, one can find the beautiful Canada Museum of Civilization. These photos are taken during the freezing weather of January.

• Rideau Mall in downtown Ottawa  is one of the main Ottawa shopping centers.

• While Ottawa is very cold during winter, it is beautiful in this time and many cultural activities as well as many sight seeing sites can be visited during the cold and dry winter times. One has a chance to enjoy the sun and the beautiful blue sky during Ottawa very cold winter times.

Picture Gallery