6. Old and New City Hall

Old City Hall

• ​​​A massive, majestic Romanesque Revival fortress completed in 1899 that served as the city's civic headquarters until 1965.

• Old City Hall features an imposing 103.6 meter clock tower that defines the view looking down Bay Street. The main entrance is famous for its elaborate stone carvings.

• The architect E.J. Lennox did not get along with city councillors during construction so he had stone carvers secretly model the grotesque, wrinkled faces around the front entrance after the city politicians of the time. He also hid his own name into the building's upper corbels, spelling out E.J. LENNOX ARCHITECT around the roofline.

New City Hall

• The futuristic, award-winning home of Toronto's municipal government, featuring two curved concrete towers of unequal height cupping a central, flying-saucer-like council chamber.

• Designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell after winning a massive 1,500-entry global design competition in 1958.

• While the inner concave walls are entirely covered in glass to symbolize open, transparent democracy, the outer convex walls are windowless and ribbed with strips of pure Carrara marble set in concrete to give the appearance of an impenetrable fortress from behind.