Doors Open Toronto – Part 3 – Osgoode Hall

A friend of mine in the legal system was kind enough to treat me to lunch at Osgoode Hall earlier in the year. During the week the rooms are occupied with legal proceedings and one large room functions as a fabulous restaurant. Since my friend works for the legal system I was able to have a personal tour of the building and fell in love with the beautiful library and architecture of the building. Sadly I didn’t have my camera with me that afternoon and put Osgoode Hall on my list of places to return to with my camera.

Here is a bit of the history of Osgoode Hall, taken from the Osgoode Hall website:

Osgoode Hall is a heritage building located in downtown Toronto. This historic site is the focus for legal activity in Ontario and has garnered attention for over 170 years. Osgoode Hall occupies six acres and was acquired by the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1829. The name Osgoode Hall honours William Osgoode the first Chief Justice of the province. Osgoode Hall withstood more than ten major restorations. The front facade maintained its originality and is basically unaltered to reflect the 1860 design. The interior of Osgoode Hall possesses unique architectural achievements. The heritage courtrooms are from the late 1800’s. Convocation Hall boasts ten gorgeous stained glass heraldic windows covering 4,000 years of law. The Great Library touted as the most beautiful room in Canada has an intricate ceiling, cork floors and triple cube design. The rotunda is spectacular from the original tiling on the floor to the elegant arched pillars surrounded by elaborate oil paintings of former Chief Justices of the Province.

I was very excited to read that Osgoode Hall was on the list for Doors Open 2010. It’s a beautiful building and I highly recommend taking a look at it in person if it’s on the list again next year. Here are some of the photos I took: