King's Square
One review for King's Square
1 review in English
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Review from Brian S.
12/16/2009 11 photos
A square with
monuments
very old trees
flowers
and
lots of pigeons
Kings Square is to St. John what Boston Common is to Boston. The Square is a lot smaller than the common but then St. John is a lot smaller than Boston.
It's a place where local people go to sit, talk, walk, reflect and of course feed the pigeons. The square is located right in the middle of the city and has been here for centuries. An elderly guy I talked to told me a story about how they carved the square right out of solid rock and built the city around it. The square was the beginning and everything else came after.
One big difference in King's Square and Boston Common is that the people in St. John are extremely friendly and verbose. You can go up to anyone in the square and just strike up a conversation. Try that in Boston. I had a great time listening to people tell me about the history of the city and what it was like growing up.
The square reflects the Canadian fascination and even obsession with statues and monuments, These things are everywhere. A monument for some war or other, a monument for King Edward something or other, one for some politician, one for the fire department, one for a guy who saved someone from drowning, another for the loyalists who stayed with England during the American Revolution and even one for some ice skater fellow. All these plaques and monuments are typical of parks in this part of Canada.
The square also has ancient band stand, flowers, fountains and some very old trees. One woman told me that some of the trees were planted when the park was first carved out of the stone. Not sure if that's true but they certainly look old.
They square and people seem to have a thing for pigeons. I didn't have any food but every time I stopped a whole flock seemed to gather around me looking for a treat. There were signs saying don't feed the pigeons but they were totally ignored by the people and pigeons in the park. On lady told me the signs were for the benefit of the politicians in the city not the pigeons and that pigeons can't read but then again most politicians probably can't either.
A square
with monuments
very old trees
flowers
and
lots of pigeonsListed in: In the wild, wild north
