The Star Shaped fort (The Citadel)

Member Name: machar

Product:	The Citadel
Date:	18/02/01 (279 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: lovely views, very educational

Disadvantages: none

The Citadel military fort is situated on top of the only hill in Halifax at the junction of Sackville Street and Brunswick Street. The original Citadel was started as soon as Halifax was founded in 1749 but the star shaped building that survives today dates from 1828 - 1861. The Citadel is now classed as a national historic site due to the role Halifax played as a key naval station of the British empire.

The Citadel was built by the English to protect their land from the French. Halifax was in an excellent position as it could be used as a base to rule Nova Scotia and as a military base to take care of the French based at Louisburg and Quebec City. From the Citadel you can see why it made such an excellent fort. The views from the top are stunning allowing you to view the entire city and to watch every ship that comes up the harbour.

There is a lot of stairs to climb to reach the Citadel but half way up there is a stopping off point - the old town clock which was built in London but erected in Halifax in 1803. This provides a useful resting off point! Round about the Citadel is the park with lots of lush grass wonderful for sunbathing.

The star shape of the fort is really quite unusual but very sensible in terms of fighting off your attackers. Your attackers have to place themselves ina very close vulnerable position in order to breach the fort walls. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately!) this careful design and planning was never tested as the fort never came under attack!

The fort has a number of specific tourist attractions so you can easily spend 2 to 3 hours there. There are guided tours which take about 45 minutes, a movie called "The Tide of History" to explain the history of the fort and a room with lots more information on boards and exhibits. The movie deserves special attention as it is situated in four different theatres - each concentrating on a different period in the forts history. Some areas
of the fort have been reconstructed such as the soldiers barracks, the guardroom, the schoolroom (for the soldiers children) and the powder magazine.

When we were there they had bagpipes and drums (made me feel at home!), soldiers in kilts (we asked them how they dealt with the heat and the heavy kilts!) and demonstrations of 17th and 18th century fire arms. Displays of precision drilling with soldiers in 1800's military dress also take place. The Army museum that tells of Canadas military history from the first armies through the World Wars and in recent times is also very interesting.

Admission was $5.75 - rather good value with the exchange rate at that time. Even if you are not particularly interested in military history, the Citadel has lovely views of Halifax and is well worth a visit for that alone.

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