Продолжение раздела «Cultural Reader», информационные материалы о Канаде.
Перейти в начало — Canada (Общая информация о Канаде).

Main Cities of Canada

Ottawa
It is the capital of Canada. Ottawa is a great example of a metropolitan city It has lots of banks, big skyscrapers and embassies. The symbol of Ottawa is its Parliament buildings. It’ s really worth seeing. The buildings are home to the House of Commons, the Library of Parliament, the Hall of Honour, the Senate, and the impressive Peace Tower. In summer you can watch the Changing of the Guard Ceremony on the hill. You won’ t see much difference between this ceremony and equivalent one in England. In Ottawa you can take the Amphibus — the bus that not only rides on the streets, but also can float on water like a boat. In the city one can see the residence of the Canada’ s Governor General. It’ s a big beautiful building. There are a lot of other interesting places in Ottawa. They include the National Museum of Canada, which has collections representing Indian and Eskimo culture; the Public Archives of Canada; Royal Canadian War Museum; the Design center; Royal Canadian Mint and others. You can see Ottawa University with classes for English- and French-speaking students.

Montreal
It is situated in Quebec — the French part of Canada. It really looks like France: lots of narrow, small streets, cafes, and other tilings typical for France. It combines modern skyscrapers and XEX century mansions in a unique mixture. It’ s usually called ’ Paris of the Western Hemisphere’. The most interesting part of the city is the Notre-Dame de Montreal that is known as the most beautiful church in North America. The Basilica of Mary Queen is nearly half-size replica of St. Peter’ s in Rome. The Royal Place is the oldest place in Montreal. In the eastern part of Montreal you can see Olympic Park with its famous tower that close resembles the one that is in Pisa, Italy (the leaning one). One can take an elevator and go up this tower. Near the leaning tower there is a special place, where different animals and plants survive in their natural conditions.

The city’ s first subway, called the Metro was opened in 1966. Montreal is Canada’ s most important port. It is the chief manufacturing centre of Canada. It has a number of large libraries and several theatres. It is the seat of McGill University (English- speaking), the University of Montreal (French-speaking) and several colleges. There are many museums in the city and among them are the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Archaeology and History, Wax Museum and others.

Toronto
It is the capital and the largest city of Ontario, and is located on the north shore of Lake Ontario. It is one of the chief Great Lakes ports. The city is famous for its CN Tower — the biggest tower in the world — 553 m in height. From the tower you

can observe the whole city. The most interesting thing about the tower is its glass floor. As you walk, you can see what is under you. The Canadian National Exposition, held here annually features industrial and agricultural exhibitions and also contains an amusement park area.

The city is an artistic and musical center, with the Art Gallery of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory of Music. The Royal Ontario Museum is famous for its collection of dinosaur bones and for its Oriental exhibits. The University of Toronto, Ryerson Institute of Technology, and York University offer advanced educational facilities.

Quebec
It’ s difficult to call Quebec a city. It very much looks like a town — but is still the capital of the province of Quebec. There is Saint-Anne Church there. It has a cyclorama (a big picture screen that is round) — the biggest cyclorama in the world, on which the last days of Jesus Christ are painted.

Quebec is a city for tourist — there are lots of squares, monuments, souvenir shops, small houses, and museums. It is the only city in North America that still retains a wall around it that was used to defend it from enemies. There is a very interesting big castle there — the Chateau de Frontenac.