11 – Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

July 13, 2017 – Today we toured the town of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Lunenburg was established by the British in 1753 as part of an effort to drive the Mi'kmaq Indians and the French Catholic Acadians out of the area.  It was initially settled by a total of 1,453 German, Swiss and French Protestants and had to survive  nine raids by the Mi'kmaq and the Acadians.

Our first stop was the Lunenburg Academy which was designed in 1894 in the Second Empire Style (I don’t know what that is either) and finished in 1895.  It was initially used as a high school but today is an elementary school and here is a photo.  The locals call it their Castle on the Hill.

As we walked thru the town there were a lot of colorful and interesting looking houses.  Here are some examples.

In the last picture, that bay window that is over the front door in known as the Lunenburg bump and is frequently seen on the houses in town.

There are several interesting churches in town.  The first we came across was St. John’s Anglican Church of Canada.  The parish was founded in 1753 and the current church was built in 1871.  Here are an exterior and several interior photos.  

Typical of the Protestant churches we visited, the pipes for the organ have a colorful paint job.

And lots of stained-glass and this photo shows one example.

This church also had a carillon and during the day we heard it being played a number of times.  Here is the “keyboard” for the carillon.

The next church we visited was the Central United Church.  This was founded as a Methodist church in 1814 and the present church was built in 1883.  In 1925 it became part of the Untied Church of Canada and here are exterior and interior photos.

And an example of the stained-glass windows.

Since for many years the main industry in town was fishing, the church has incorporated a nautical flavor in its decorations.  An example is this decorative half ship’s wheel that it incorporated in the ceiling arches.

Here are photos of the town’s World War I Memorial and the band shell.

One of the oldest houses in the town is the Knaut-Rhuland house which was built in 1793.  It is named after the first 2 owners.  Here is an exterior photo and 3 photos of rooms in the house.

The third church we passed was the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.  Don’t know when this building was erected but the parish dates from 1772 and was built to serve the German settlers in Lunenburg.

Here is a photo I took from across the harbor so you can get a view of the town.

The red building on the left in the photo is the Fisheries Museum.  Upstairs is a very good seafood restaurant where Pat and I had dinner.  Here is the view we had out the window from our dining table.

Tomorrow we will be visiting Peggy’s Cove and Halifax.