Just about everybody who visits Victoria, British Columbia, to see the sights is sure to head for the magnificent, world-renowned Butchart Gardens. Having toured the gardens many times in the past, however, I decided to seek out a different Victoria attraction to explore on my most recent trip there in September. 

Just a short distance east of the downtown area is the sandstone-faced Craigdarroch Castle, built between 1887 and 1890 for coal baron Robert Dunsmuir, the wealthiest man in British Columbia at the time. This imposing Victorian landmark sits atop a hill overlooking the city and the Strait of Juan de Fuca with floors of splendid woodwork, stained glass windows, ornate furnishings and 17 fireplaces. In fact, it took five railcars to ship the Castle’s 2,128 individual oak panels from Chicago. Unfortunately, Dunsmuir died just months before construction was completed, so his wife Joan, three daughters and two orphaned grandchildren were the only family members to live in the mansion and original 28-acre estate.   

Upon Joan’s passing in 1908, the Castle, its contents and surrounding property were divided among nine heirs. Over the years the hospital was converted into a hospital for veterans in WWI, Victoria College, the Victoria School of Music and the Society for the Preservation and Maintenance of Craigdarroch Castle.

Since the Conservatory departed in 1979, the mansion has been operated solely as a historic house museum, and the monumental task of tracking down artifacts for the restoration of the house began in earnest. Today most of the rooms have been painstakingly furnished with period antiques, some of them original. The result is a most impressive attraction sure to fascinate anyone with an interest in historic mansions of the Victorian era or the privileged lives of those who amassed immense fortunes from the industrial transformation of North America.

Oak-paneled main staircase

Downstairs parlor

English billiard table

There’s nothing like traveling in Europe to shake up your perspective on history.

In the United States, we get excited about things that are 200 years old; in the West, where some states have yet to celebrate their centennials, even newer items and places get the historic treatment. But visit Europe, where cities and buildings have stood for over a thousand years, and you begin to see the past along a different timeline.

A classic example is Switzerland’s Chateau de Chillon, a castle built by French dukes in the 800s. Sitting atop a bluff on the banks of beautiful Lake Geneva, this castle was lived in and expanded by nobility for over 1,000 years – the last residents moved out in the 1800s.

The castle was made famous by the English poet Lord Byron, who wrote about it in his popular work “The Prisoner of Chillon.”  During our tour of the castle, we visited the dungeon, where as many as 250 prisoners were held at one time, and saw where Byron carved his initials into a stone pillar.

The tour of the large castle afforded us interesting glimpses into the lives of people who lived there.  We saw the artwork and furniture that was created for them centuries ago, and much of it is still beautiful today. A full-time staff of curators and maintenance personal works to make sure the castle is preserved in its original state.

Along the way, our guide also pointed out how the inhabitants dealt with more mundane affairs, such as cooking and bathing.

“We often think that in the middle ages, people were very dirty,” she said. “They were not – they were very clean. They washed their hands and faces often, and took baths just about every day.”

Nobles, she explained, had baths in their homes, while commoners used public bathhouses. It was only after the bathhouses became frequent spots for illicit rendezvous that that Catholic church ordered them closed, and spread the rumor that contact with water was dangerous.

When  you do a little bit of digging, history is always more interesting than you expect.