Halifax

The ditch of the Citadel

We spent the day in Halifax under nice blue skies. Our primary stop was the Citadel, inspired by the star pattern designed by Vauban who served Louis XIVth in France. We had seen a number of his Forts in France in May. This citadel was designed by one of his students. It is well designed with a ditch that you can’t see from the city. If it ever had been defended it would have been quite easy with rifle holes on both sides of the ditch and only one bridge that entered the Fort itself. Our guide explained a lot of what life was like in this fortification. We had a demonstration of a breech loading rifle, converted from a musket. All their weapons here are original, our rifle was from the 1870’s. It was amazing how quickly they got off one shot after another, about every 10-20 seconds. Our tour ended with the noon cannon, shot off every day except Christmas.

We ate lunch on the wharf (it turned out to be the same restaurant we went to years ago). We were a little disappointed in the meal, but the beer was good. After lunch we toured the Maritime Museum of theAtlantic. The most interesting part of the museum was the disaster of 1917. The SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship carrying munitions, collided with the Belgian Relief vessel SS Imo. The resulting explosion, the Halifax Explosion, devastated the Richmond District of Halifax, killing approximately 2,000 people and injuring nearly 9,000 others, destroying many of the building in Halifax.The museum also had several light house lamps, the story of the Cunard line (both commercial ships and cruise ships) and numerous ship models. Not quite as interesting as the Maine Maritime museum.

Lighthouse Lamp