Victoria is also the refuge of choice for many of Hollywood's leading players -- Bob Hope has been here to play golf, Kevin Costner to fish and Alicia Silverstone to film a movie (Excess Baggage -- she jumped off the Johnson Street Bridge!).

And, being so close to Vancouver, several films have been shot fully or in part on location here, including Little Women (Wynona Rider), Bird on a Wire (Mel Gibson) and Intersection (Richard Gere and Sharon Stone).

Historical Figures:

Emily Carr may well be Victoria's most famous export.. but Victoria has spawned more than its share of colourful characters. Politically, BC has long been considered a three-ring circus and that tradition goes back a long way. Take for instance Amour de Cosmos (born William Alexander Smith), one-time newspaper editor turned Premier. Often drunk in public and capable of spinning barely-believable yarns, he still managed to be an able representative both locally and in Ottawa when he was elected as a Member of Parliament. Another colourful character was Cheif Justice Matthew Baillie Begbie whose strict sentences earned him the nickname of the Hanging Judge. However, a century after his death, his judgements were still being cited in BC courts.

Architects and Buildings:

Two architects dominated Victoria through its boom years: Frances Rattenbury commercially and Samuel Maclure residentially. Rattenbury gave the Inner Harbour its distinct flavour, designing the Legislative buildings, the CPR terminal (now the Royal London Wax Museum) and the Empress Hotel, as well as the nearby Crystal Gardens (once an indoor saltwater pool) and Government House in Rockland. Maclure designed many of the stately homes in the Fairfield and Rockland neigbourhoods.

Some other buildings of note include: Craigdarroch Castle (on Joan Crescent), Hatley Castle (at Royal Roads), Emily Carr House (on Government Street) and Congregation Emanu-el, the oldest Synagogue in Canada (on Blanshard Street) -- all of which offer tours, some for an entrance fee. If you're walking about Beacon Hill Park, you may want to look at nearby South Park School, the oldest operational school in Western Canada. Down the hill you will find the recently restored St. Ann's Academy and the charming Church of Our Lord (reformed Episcopal), the oldest church building in Victoria. (For other downtown churches, check this link.)

Victoria takes heritage buildings seriously and has a register which grows annually of restored buildings and homes. The Victoria Heritage Foundation also offers maps for self-guided heritage walking tours of the James Bay and Fernwood neighbourhoods.

Graves:

If you are looking for graveyards, Victoria has plenty. The most impressive may be Ross Bay Cemetary, on Memorial, between Fairfield and Dallas Roads. Others worth wandering through are the Jewish Cemetary (near the intersection of Fernwood Rd. and Cedar Hill Rd.), and the Chinese Cemetary (off Maquinna in Fairfield). The Old Cemetaries Society hosts regular walking tours of these and other sites in Victoria. There is also a great little publication of self-guided walking tours for Ross Bay Cemetary which should still be available through Crown Publications (on lower Fort Street).