Manitoba - Fabulous Western Canada: Capture the Excitement of the Great West! - page 217

occupants, such as antique shops, book-
stores, theatre companies and the like.
The federal government designated the
area a National Historic Site in 1997.

Housed in a striking triangular pale
limestone building, the Winnipeg Art
Gallery is best known for its vast
collection of Inuit art and sculptures.
Founded in 1912, the museum boasts
everything from 16th-century Flemish

The city's fi nest museums can be found
near the Exchange District. Located
within a complex of science attractions
in the same downtown building, the
Manitoba Museum is Winnipeg's
showcase museum, a tour de force
emphasizing Manitoba's natural and
social history. Separate galleries teach
the visitor about the province's geol-
ogy, grasslands ecology, Arctic ecol-
ogy—a polar bear diorama is the star
here—and Aboriginal history thanks to
collections provided by the Hudson's
Bay Company.

Nearby is the Costume Museum of
Canada , which boasts a collection of
35,000 costumes, including some dat-
ing back 400 years and everything from
Victorian gowns to 1970s swimsuits
and linen tablecloths that belonged to
Elizabeth I of England.

4 The Manitoba Legislative Building with its

Golden Boy . © iStockphoto.com / Leif Norman

6

The unique architecture of Winnipeg's
Exchange District. © iStockphoto.com / Deborah Clague