Did You Know?

  • there are approximately 50,000 stones in the Centre Block's south facade
  • there are 550 windows in the Centre Block's south facade
  • the Centre Block's south facade is made of sandstone from Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Ohio
  • the Peace Tower is 97.9 m (321.2 ft.) high
  • the height of Victoria Tower (part of original Centre Block destroyed by fire in 1916) was 55 m (180 ft.)
  • there are approximately 54,000 stones in the Peace Tower
  • the size of the Peace Tower's clock face is 4.8 m (15 ft. 8 in.) in diameter
  • the size of the Canadian flag atop the Peace Tower is 2.25 by 4.5 m (7 ft. 3 in. by 14 ft. 7 in.)
  • there are 53 bells in the Peace Tower's carillon
  • the Peace Tower is made of sandstone and granite from Nova Scotia, Ontario and Ohio
  • the West Block, designed in the Gothic Revival style, was built between 1859 and 1865
  • the extensions to the West Block are named the Mackenzie Wing and Tower, built between 1875 and 1878, and the Laurier Tower and Link, built between 1905 and 1906
  • approximately 370 gargoyles, grotesques, carvings, friezes and bosses can be found on the Peace Tower
  • new carvings are added continuously to the interior of the buildings of Parliament Hill
  • the approximate dimensions of the Centre Block are 144.2 m by 75.1 m (473.1 ft. by 246.4 ft.)
  • the 1916 fire that destroyed most of the original Centre Block is believed to have started in the House of Commons Reading Room
  • the Centennial Flame was designed by the architect Don Freeze
  • the total area of Parliament Hill is 154,186 m², 1,659,636 ft² or 38.1 acres
Parliament Hill