Yorkville and the Annex

The equestrian statue of Edward VII first stood in India, but was moved to Canada after 1969, when India became a Commonwealth republic.

One of the larger museums in North America, and the largest in Canada. Thousands of artifacts and specimens are featured in over 20 exhibits; including dinosaurs, Ancient China, native Canadians, Canadian furniture, medieval Europe, art deco, ancient Egypt, textiles, Middle East, India and Pacific islanders. The world's largest totem pole, which is over 100 years old, is also housed in a place of honour. The original building was built in 1910, and is a handsome Romanesque revival, with many carvings of people and events. The newer addition is a large de-constructivist crystal, made of steel and glass.

Trinity-St. Paul's is a landmark in the Annex completed in 1889. The church has advocated for same-sex marriage, fair trade and improved conditions for the homeless.

This is one of the city's oldest active fire halls, built in 1878 for the Yorkville Fire Department before the City of Toronto annexed Yorkville in 1883. The two-storey structure has a five-storey clock tower with three bays (there used to be only two), and it has a coat of arms from the old Yorkville Town Hall. This is probably the cutest looking fire hall still in operation in Toronto. Its architectural style is "Victorian Gothic".

Built in 1875, this is one of the city's oldest fire halls. It is a two-storey structure with an eight-storey clock tower. It has three bays, only one from the original building. The current tower was partially rebuilt in 1972, after a fire set by an arsonist. The tower's clock was not salvagable, and a replica replaced the original when the tower was rebuilt from 1972 to 1973. Both Stations 312 and 315 are examples of "Victorian Gothic" architecture but have a much different style of tower. Fire Station 315 is a landmark building and can be easily seen from Spadina Avenue.

There is a quiet square with benches around the church. On the east side of the church, there is an urban vegetable garden.

On the side of the Christian Louboutin Yorkville shop, there are large murals best seen by climbing to the second storey walkway on the east side of the building.

Hazelton Avenue is a beautiful residential street within Yorkville lined with older houses with small but very attractive front yards. There are private art galleries at the south end of the street. Sometimes, a sculpture is displayed in front of the art gallery.

The Heliconian Hall was built as a church in 1875, when this part of Toronto was still rural. The Heliconian Club, an association of women involved in the arts and letters, acquired the building in 1923. (The club was formed because the all-male Arts and Letters Club denied membership to women at that time.) The hall has "Carpenter's Gothic" architecture with a board and batten exterior, intricate trim, a carved rose window and a wooden spire. The hall's vaulted ceiling provides excellent acoustics, making the club ideal for musical and dramatic presentations. See the club's website for events open to the public. The hall is a designated National Historic Site of Canada; it is the only wooden church structure remaining in Toronto today.

Love Negotiation is an amusing bronze statue of a man and woman sitting at an outside patio table. However, the sexy lady has the head of a rabbit, and the gentleman has a dog's head. It's worth a little detour to see.

This is a narrow pedestrian lane lined with shops and restaurants. There is a mural along the lane.

The park features a water fountain, clusters of various types of trees, plant beds and the Yorkville Rock, a 700-ton granite rock transported from Muskoka. There are numerous tables and chairs under the park's trees, and there are two coffee shops on the edge of the park.

The building features a 4-metre high bamboo grove just inside the main entrance. Effectively, it is a small interior park with benches within the bamboo grove.

The Front Campus, the traditional heart of the university, is focused on the oval lawn historically enclosed by King's College Circle. It is dominated by University College on its north side. If you are visiting Toronto by private car, you can park in the Landmark Garage (accessible via the west end of Wellesley Street) and then explore on foot the Front Campus and other nearby areas like Queen's Park.

University College, an eclectic blend of Richardsonian Romanesque and Norman architectural elements, is the centrepiece of the University of Toronto's beautiful St. George campus. It was built in 1857, when the surrounding area was hinterland to the north of the town. Both the university and the city have grown all around it, but the building remains important both academically and architecturally. The building was declared a National Historic Site of Canada in 1968. Take a look at the building's front lobby and take a look at the woodwork along the corridors. If you go to second floor above the lobby, you might be able to peek into a quaint old-fashioned lecture hall. Also, look at the courtyard and the fanciful architecture surrounding three of its sides. The simplest way into the courtyard is from an entrance through the western side of the building, which in itself is worthy to see.

This gallery has several rooms and two types of exhibits. Most rooms contain changing exhibits of contemporary art. There is also the permanent Malcove Collection containing Byzantine and Eastern Orthodox religious art plus some Greco-Egyptian-Roman items dating from as early as the first century.

Built in 1907, Convocation Hall is recognizable for its domed roof and Ionic-pillared rotunda. Besides the annual convocation ceremonies, the building serves as a venue for academic and social events throughout the year. Its design includes neoclassical features from both the Greek and Roman periods including columns, the building's entablature, and its domed roof. There is an emphasis on principles of proportion, symmetry, geometry and uniformity of parts.

The Sandford Fleming Building is the traditional centre of activity in the University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. The building was built in 1907 originally for the physics department. It is named after Sir Sandford Fleming, the chief engineer of the Intercolonial Railway of Canada, the chief engineer on Canadian Pacific Railways surveys, and is famous for helping to establish a standardized 24-hour system of international time zones.

The sandstone buildings of Knox College epitomizes the North American collegiate Gothic design, with its characteristic cloisters surrounding a secluded courtyard. Knox College is a postgraduate theological college founded in 1844 and today is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in Canada. The college moved into its current building in 1915. Take a look at the building's lobby on the eastern side of the building. It has a castle atmosphere. Pass through the lobby to the courtyard surrounded on all four sides by impressive, old-fashion architecture.

Hart House is a Gothic-revival student centre complex overlooking a lawn within Hart House Circle. Among its many common rooms, the building's Great Hall is noted for large stained-glass windows and a long quotation from John Milton's Areopagitica that is inscribed around the walls. The adjacent Soldiers' Tower stands 44 m tall as the most prominent structure in the vicinity, its stone arches etched with the names of university members lost to the battlefields of the two World Wars. The tower houses a 51-bell carillon that is played on special occasions such as Remembrance Day and convocation.

This small gallery has two rooms displaying contemporary Canadian art. The exhibits change monthly.

The main building of Trinity College displays Jacobethan Tudor architecture, while its chapel was built in the Perpendicular Gothic style of Giles Gilbert Scott. The chapel features exterior walls of sandstone and interiors of Indiana Limestone, and was constructed by Italian stonemasons using ancient building methods. The building's cornerstone was laid on April 30, 1851. Trinity College was incorporated as an independent university in 1851, and a charter was granted by Queen Victoria the following year. Trinity College was originally an arts and divinity institution but, by the end of the 19th century its scope included medicine, law, music, pharmacy and dentistry. The college admitted its first female students in 1884. In 1904, Trinity College became part of the University of Toronto. Be sure to see the courtyard, with its geometric patterns, between the wings of the building.

Philosopher's Walk is a scenic footpath that follows a meandering, wooded ravine linking Trinity College to Bloor Street on the west side of the Royal Ontario Museum.

The Bloor Street entrance to the Philosopher's Walk was built in 1901 to commemorate the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York. It was moved to its current location from the corner of Bloor Street and Avenue Road in 1962.

The small amphitheatre midway along the Philosopher's Walk was designed to be acoustically vibrant for lectures and performances.

One of the largest visual art exhibitions with rotating exhibitions.

An extension of the Art Museum at the University of Toronto.

Victoria college, founded in 1836, features several older buildings.

Build in 1896, "Old Vic" is the main building and an example of Richardsonian Romanesque architectural style.

Built in 1903 in the Queen Anne style, Annesley Hall is the first university residence built for women in Canada. It is the oldest residence within the college and is a National Historic Site of Canada.

Burwash Hall is the second oldest of the residence buildings at Victoria, being completed in 1913. The building is an extravagant Neo-Gothic work with turrets, gargoyles, and battlements. The portion of the building opposite St. Mary Street is called the Gate House with an attractive oval portal under a castle-like tower.

St. Michael's College, founded in 1852, is an undergraduate college for liberal arts and sciences within the University of Toronto. It has a Roman Catholic affiliation.

Consecrated in 1856, St. Basil's Church is the oldest building at the University of Toronto in continuous academic use. It serves the college parish.

The most significant example of Brutalist architecture is the massive Robarts Library complex, built in 1972 and opened a year later in 1973. It features raised podia, extensive use of triangular geometric designs and a towering fourteen-storey concrete structure that cantilevers above a field of open space and mature trees.

The largest repository of publicly accessible rare books and manuscripts in Canada, the library is several stories high with shelves around an open atrium. The old books give the place a noticeable musty smell. Behind the entrance and one floor below is an area for changing exhibits.

There is a grove of Japanese cherry trees on the SW side of the Robarts Library. The trees bloom in late April or early May (depending on weather) and blooming lasts for only one or two weeks. There is a web page to find more precise information about when cherry trees bloom in Toronto.

The John H. Daniels Building was built in the Gothic Revival style in 1875 and a highly visible landmark along Spadina Avenue. The building was used originally for Knox College until the college moved to the central campus in 1914. During World War I, it was used as a military hospital where once Amelia Earhart worked as a nurses aide. It became a medical research lab in 1943. It again became an academic building in 1972 for the Faculty of Arts and Science. Today, it is used by the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, and has a modern extension on its north side. The grounds are nicely landscaped. Pedestrian access is on the east side of the building.

Restored 1913 movie theatre that screens documentaries and independent film festival fare, and often features classic favourites. Definitely the place to go if you feel like watching Dr. Strangelove on the big screen. If you're in town for Halloween, the midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is recommended.'

One of the city's cultural highlights, the Fringe Festival is an annual summer event featuring comedy, drama, dance, and a range of other independent productions put on in and around the Annex. 11 days in early July. It was founded in 1988.

Board game café; a $5 cover charge gives access to a huge library of games.

Board game café with over 1000 board and card games.