page_title: Centre Block
section_title: Confederation Hall
hierarchical_section_title: Centre Block / Characteristics / Confederation Hall
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Salle centrale de l'édifice du Centre sur la Colline du Parlement à Ottawa
context_page_description: The Centre Block is the main building of the Canadian parliamentary complex on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario, containing the original House of Commons and Senate chambers, as well as the offices of a number of members of parliament, senators, and senior administration for both legislative houses. It is also the location of several ceremonial spaces, such as the Hall of Honour, the Memorial Chamber, and Confederation Hall.
  Built in the Gothic Revival style, the present Centre Block is the building's second iteration. The first was destroyed by fire in 1916; all that remains of the original building is the Library of Parliament, at the rear of the Centre Block. Though construction began immediately after the blaze, sculpting work on the interior continued through the 1970s. One of the most recognizable buildings in Canada, the Centre Block is depicted on the Canadian $10 bill, $20 bill, and the $50 bill. On 12 December 2018, the Centre Block was closed for renovations that could last ten years or more.
context_section_description: The Centre Block is arranged symmetrically around Confederation Hall, located immediately inside the main entrance. It is an octagonal chamber, the perimeter of which is divided by limestone clustered columns into eight bays of two different sizes, themselves subdivided by dark green syenite pillars. Behind these runs a vaulted ambulatory that supports the upper gallery. The arcaded arches are topped by gables sculpted to commemorate the confederated nature of Canada and they support one side of the hall's fan vaulted ceiling with carved bosses, while the other side rests on a single column in the centre of the room. This column is borne on a stone carved with an image of Neptune amongst sea lions and fish in a mythical sea. It was placed at noon on 2 July 1917, to mark the 50th anniversary of Confederation, and above it was carved the words: 
  1867 JULY 1917 ON THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONFEDERATION OF BRITISH COLONIES IN NORTH AMERICA AS THE DOMINION OF CANADA THE PARLIAMENT AND PEOPLE DEDICATE THIS BUILDING IN PROCESS OF RECONSTRUCTION AFTER DAMAGE BY FIRE AS A MEMORIAL OF THE DEEDS OF THEIR FOREFATHERS AND OF THE VALOUR OF THOSE CANADIANS WHO IN THE GREAT WAR FOUGHT FOR THE LIBERTIES OF CANADA, OF THE EMPIRE AND OF HUMANITY.
  Around the central column is an inlaid marble floor with a 16-point windrose of Verde Antique serpentine from Roxbury, Vermont, and a swirl pattern of green serpentine from the Greek island of Tinos, embedded in Missisquoi Boulder Grey marble, from Philipsburg, Quebec. The overall pattern represents the essential element of water, alluding to Canada's motto: A Mari Usque Ad Mare (From Sea to Sea). The inner and outer circles of the floor are made of a Missisquoi Black marble from Philipsburg, Quebec, and white travertine from Italy, as well as Verde Antique serpentine separated by a band of Missisquoi Boulder Grey marble.
  Though a design model of the room was presented as early as January 1918, Confederation Hall was the last part of the Centre Block's interior to be completed; the Missisquoi black marble base was laid on 11 August 1921 and the Tyndall limestone vault—built from a full scale wood and plaster model—was completed in December of the following year. Still, the detailed carving, the designs for which had been finalised by Cléophas Soucy in 1941, remained incomplete until 1953, due to occurrence of the Second World War. Upon completion of this work, the tympanums were adorned with the coats of arms of Canada and the provinces, each surrounded by relevant floral symbols: on the east wall thistles for Nova Scotia, Tudor roses for Prince Edward Island, and grapes and apples for New Brunswick; on the south wall lilies, maple leaves, and Tudor roses for Newfoundland and Labrador, pine cones, oak leaves, and acorns for Nunavut, and maple leaves for British Columbia; on the west wall grapevines and apples for Saskatchewan, sunflowers, corn, and wheat for Alberta, and wheat and pine cones for Manitoba; and on the west wall sunflowers, wheat, and corn for Ontario, pine cones, oak leaves, and acorns for Canada, and Tudor roses for Quebec. The remaining territorial coats of arms are located in the southeast (Northwest Territories) and southwest (Yukon) corners. The gable springers all display the coats of arms of the provincial and territorial capitals, while the gable ramparts bear symbols of Canada's fauna.
  The apex stones atop each central arch are carved into figures from Canadian life, two Inuit with huskies being found on the east wall, two heads each representing the merchant marine and agriculture on the south wall, two of Canada's First Nations people on the west wall, and a lumberjack and miner with a wheel of industry on the north wall. There were originally two renditions of the sovereign's Canadian arms, one each on the north and south walls of Confederation Hall; however, the latter was reworked in 2000 by Maurice Joanisse into the above-mentioned coat of arms of the newly created territory of Nunavut.
caption: Arcaded arches in the west bay of Confederation Hall, the tympanums displaying the escutcheon of, left to right, Ontario, Canada, and Quebec
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