The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
The
Unknown Soldier
The
unknown Canadian soldier was laid to rest on the upper plaza of the National War
Memorial in Ottawa.
His tomb, designed and made by the renowned Canadian artist
Mary-Ann Liu, consists of a three-tiered granite sarcophagus with a bronze
relief sculpture as a lid.
Facts
Location: upper plaza of the National War Memorial in Ottawa
Sarcophagus
Size: three-tiered, 3.6 metres long by 2.4 metres wide
Material: Dark Caledonia granite, quarried in Rieviére à Pierre, Quebec
Design: patterned after the stone altars of the Vimy Memorial with the relief
work in bronze. The dark granite complements the paler-coloured stone used in
the National War Memorial
Bronze Relief Sculpture
Casting: cast in Roberts Creek, B.C.
Design: includes key elements of the stone carving on the Vimy altar; a medieval
sword, a First World War-style helmet and branches of maple and laurel leaves
(symbolizing victory and death)
Bronze Corner Pieces
Design: three of the corners have large replicas of the Canadian Memorial Cross.
First instituted in 1919, the Cross is presented to the family of those who gave
their lives while serving Canada in war or peacekeeping missions. Each cross is
slightly different, having a different Royal Cipher of the successive monarchs
since its inception. The fourth corner has a replica of a poppy representing
those who may fall in future conflicts.
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