Statue Square

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Statue Square (Traditional Chinese: 皇后像廣場) is a public pedestrian square in Central, Hong Kong.

Contents 1 History 2 Surrounding buildings 3 Gallery 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

[edit] History

The square was built at the end of the 19th century. It derives its name from the fact that it originally contained the statues of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Edward VII between 1876 and 1902^[1]. In particular, the statue of Sir Thomas Jackson Bart, the chief manager of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation was unveiled on September 24, 1906^[2]. These statues, together with the two bronze lions in front of the HSBC building, were displaced to Japan to be melted by the occupying Japanese during World War II.

After the war all statues were brought back to Hong Kong. Sir Thomas Jackson's now stands roughly in the middle of the square, facing the Former Supreme Court Building. Queen Victoria's statue was placed in Victoria Park. The two lions are now again in front of the Hang Sang Bank Coperation building.

[edit] Surrounding buildings

The HSBC Hong Kong headquarters building is located along its southern side. It stands at the location of the old City Hall (built 1869, demolished 1933). The Former Supreme Court Building, now housing the Legislative Council is located along the eastern side of the square. Prince's Building is located along the western side of the square.

The square was initially bordered by Victoria Harbour on its northern side, but following land reclamation, it is now separated from it by Edinburgh Place, which houses the Star Ferry pier, among others.

[edit] Gallery

Statue Square

Statue Square is an ideal rendezvous for Filipino maids in Hong Kong on Sundays.

Statue Square water fountains

[edit] See also

• List of buildings and structures in Hong Kong
• History of Hong Kong
• List of urban public parks and gardens of Hong Kong

[edit] External links

• Antiquities and Monuments Office

[edit] References