Victoria Park is a public park in the centre of downtown
Regina,
the capital of the
Canadian province
Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...
of
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
.
The park is the size of two city blocks, bordered north and south by 12th Avenue and
Victoria Avenue, and east and west by Scarth Street and Lorne Street. The centre of the park divides north and southbound Cornwall Street. On the north side of the park is City Square Plaza, a stone paved plaza encompassing part of 12th Avenue and part of the park, used for festivals and the Regina
Farmers Market
A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...
. On the south side of the park is a children's play area in the south-east corner and a
memorial of John A. Macdonald (until its removal in 2021) at the south central entrance at Cornwall Street. The north-west corner has small maintenance buildings and the centre of the park is the focal point where the
cenotaph
A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...
is located amidst a raised circular area covered in pavement stone and surrounded by a circular wall.
Originally a treeless square that was set aside in 1883, it was renamed after
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
in 1907. Since that time it has received considerable improvements including many trees, the Regina Cenotaph, and a children's playground. The original centerpiece of the park was the Davin Fountain, named after
Nicholas Flood Davin
Nicholas Flood Davin, KC (January 13, 1840 – October 18, 1901) was a lawyer, journalist and politician, born at Kilfinane, Ireland (then part of the United Kingdom). The first MP for Assiniboia West (1887–1900), Davin was known as the ...
, local Member of Parliament and founder of the ''
Regina Leader-Post
The ''Regina Leader-Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper published in Regina, Saskatchewan, owned by Postmedia Network.
Founding
The newspaper was first published as ''The Leader'' in 1883 by Nicholas Flood Davin, soon after Edgar Dewdney, Lieutenan ...
'' newspaper. The fountain was removed in 1926 when the Cenotaph was erected in its place.
Regina Cenotaph
The Cenotaph in Regina was built in honour Regina's fallen heroes of
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. The cenotaph replaced the fountain that honoured Nicholas Flood Davin, which had stood in Victoria Park since 1908. The Cenotaph was unveiled on
November 11
Events Pre-1600
* 308 – At Carnuntum, Emperor ''emeritus'' Diocletian confers with Galerius, '' Augustus'' of the East, and Maximianus, the recently returned former ''Augustus'' of the West, in an attempt to end the civil wars of th ...
, 1926. A rededication was held in 1990 to honour those Regina citizens who served in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and the
Korean War
The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
and inscription was added to the monument.
Gallery
File:Victoria_Park,_Regina,_Saskatchewan.jpg, Looking north-east in Victoria Park
File:Statue_of_Sir_John_A._Macdonald,_Regina,_Saskatchewan.jpg, Statue of Sir John A. Macdonald
File:Victoria park cenotaph.jpg, Cenotaph
See also
*
Royal eponyms in Canada
In Canada, a number of sites and structures are named for royal individuals, whether a member of the past French royal family, British royal family, or present Canadian royal family thus reflecting the country's status as a constitutional mona ...
References
{{Saskatchewan parks
Parks in Regina, Saskatchewan
Festival venues in Canada
Buildings and structures in Regina, Saskatchewan
Monuments and memorials in Saskatchewan
Buildings and structures completed in 1926
Cenotaphs in Canada
World War I memorials in Canada
World War II memorials in Canada
1926 sculptures