This is an archived event from Culture Days 2021.
Images
Self Guided Historic Walking Tour of Ottawa - A Nation's Journey
Digital
History & heritage Photography Self-guided Tour Writing & literatureDate and time
This activity runs the duration of Culture Days.
Location
Ottawa, ON
Access
Free.
Offered in English and French.
About
This tour begins at the mouth of the historic Rideau Canal and explores the waterway's role in both early Canada and Bytown, and the unique factors that made Ottawa the first choice for the capital. Then, we cross the Rideau River and stop for a brief moment of reflection at the National War Memorial and the role Canada played in World War I. From there, we wander down the sidewalk gardens and patios of Sparks Street to explore Ottawa's adolescence and troubled growth into a capital. Finally, the tour ends at Parliament Hill where we take in the breathtaking views of the Ottawa River and surrounding cityscape and delve into Canada's slow and careful separation from Britain, the paranoia and icy tensions of the Cold War, and finally, the difficulties of unifying and governing a country with two national languages, dozens of cultural and religious groups, and a geographic size second only to Russia.
Links
- Learn more about On This Spot onthisspot.ca
- Download in the Apple App Store (iOS) apps.apple.com
- Download in the Google Play Store (Android) play.google.com
Organizer
On This Spot
On This Spot guides people on a tour back in time, showing & telling the history that surrounds them. On each spot, users will find themselves standing in the footsteps of a photographer who took a historic photo. On site tourists/users can use the built-in camera feature to create their own then-and-photos, which can be shared on social media and saved as a digital souvenir. Selections of these photos are chained together into walking tours that take a deep dive into local history.
On This Spot strives to make history engaging, educational, and accessible to all with a focus on easy to use features and a succinct writing style. The aim is to create an intuitive user experience that provides historical unparalleled depth without overwhelming or confusing users.