NORTH OF CATHEDRAL SQUARE
North of the square is home to some of the most attractive streets and is mainly a shopper's paradise. The nicest of the streets in this area is New Regent Street that was built in 1932 and is inhabited by pastel coloured buildings with Spanish style trellised balconies. The area also boasts the most upmarket cafés of the city. West of here is the neat Victoria Square complete with the lazy Avon river heading it off on the north side. It holds the Town Hall which is an impressive 2300 seat auditorium, a minimalist angular design. It is connected to the Convention centre a stark glass fronted building in the same square. The town hall has a restaurant which is probably as a better coffee stop. Just down the river you can find the only remaining examples of provincial buildings in the city. The Provincial Government Buildings were designed by the city's own architect Benjamin W. Mountfort. The buildings were designed in Gothic style and have a medieval influenced decoration with flagstone paved corridors. The Victorian Great Hall used as the council chamber has intricately decorated ceilings and ornate stonework. The stonemasons left their masks in parts of the stonework you can see it near the ground floor fireplace on the east wall and again on the east wall, this time in the public gallery. North along Victoria Street is the clock tower. The tower holds a clock that was brought to Christchurch from England in 1860, originally for the government buildings.
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