Rideau Hall

Rideau Hall (officially Government House) is the official residence of the governor general of Canada, the representative of the monarch of Canada. Located in Ottawa, the capital of the country, on a 36-hectare (88-acre) estate at 1 Sussex Drive, the main building consists of approximately 175 rooms across 9,500 square metres (102,000 sq ft), and 27 outbuildings around the grounds. Rideau Hall's site lies just outside the centre of Ottawa. It is one of two official vice-regal residences maintained by the federal Crown, the other being the Citadelle of Quebec. It is also used as the official residence of the monarch of Canada, when they are in Canada.

Most of Rideau Hall is used for state affairs, only 500 square metres (5,400 sq ft) of its area being dedicated to private living quarters, while additional areas serve as the offices of the Canadian Heraldic Authority and the principal workplace of the governor general and their staff; either the term Rideau Hall, as a metonym, or the formal idiom Government House is employed to refer to this bureaucratic branch. Officially received at the palace are foreign heads of state, both incoming and outgoing ambassadors and high commissioners to Canada, and Canadian Crown ministers for audiences with either the viceroy or the sovereign, should the latter be in residence.

Rideau Hall is likewise the location of many Canadian award presentations and investitures, where prime ministers and other members of the federal Cabinet are sworn in, and where federal writs of election are "dropped", among other ceremonial and constitutional functions.

Rideau Hall and the surrounding grounds were designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1977. The house is open to the public for guided tours throughout the year; approximately 200,000 visitors tour Rideau Hall annually.

Text adapted from “Rideau Hall” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Rideau Hall ranks #764 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #4 of the 25 mapped in Canada. Founded 1838, it is older than 10% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 562 atlas entries founded in the 19th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 14,295 times in the last 60 days, more than 95% of the atlas. See how Canada compares in the castle statistics.

View on the interactive castle map →

Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗