Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.
Regular contributor “caknuck” submitted the The Citadel in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This fort was built in the mid-19th Century to protect the British harbour city of Halifax from an American invasion. While it never faced a direct attack, the fort helped to deflect much of the blast of the devastating Halifax Explosion of 1917, saving thousands of lives of the people who lived in its shadow.
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The weirdest and best of Google Earth is now available in the…
It’s Canuck
, don’t want to misspell that one eh 
It’s not my typo – If the guy want’s to call himself caknuck who are we to argue?
my hometown…I left 27 years ago….cool place though
Is the K silent? The first one, at least?
Actually, it was the 18th century…
It’s “caknuck”, and yes the first ‘k’ is silent. It’s an intentional typo from ages ago when you had to protect your IRC nickname like a street tough does a half-block of sidewalk.
According to Heritage Canada Web site, the present fort was built in the 1850’s, but previous structures stood on its site (a natural highpoint).
Parks Canada site
This ’star’ shape was a common form of fort design from the 17th to early 19th centuries, and there are many examples in Europe as well as the US and Canada. The fort that forms part of the base for the Statue of Liberty is of a similar style.
The original purpose of its early construction was not to stave off an American invasion. Construction of the first stronghold at that location was started in 1791 and was built to counter the French fortress located Northeast of Halifax in Louisbourg, Nova Scotia.
I am from Halifax. What *I* find odd is that a few years ago, I learned that there is an annual conference for cities built around star-shaped citadel fortresses. Believe it; there are enough people on this planet interested and involved in such a specific topic that a conference is held.
The statement “the fort helped to deflect much of the blast of the devastating Halifax Explosion of 1917″ is a little misleading, as the fort was built on the highest spot in Halifax overlooking the harbour entrance, for strategic reasons. The hill would have been there whether the fort were built or not, and thus the homes behind the hill would have been sheltered from the blast whether or not the fort had ever been built there. The same could be said for other natural land formations near the harbour, such as the Richmond area.
So, while the hill did deflect the blast, the fort had little or nothing to do with it.
Sorry if this seems nitpicky.