Victoria Square, Christchurch

Victoria Square is located in central Christchurch, New Zealand. Originally known as Market Place or Market Square, it was the site of market days, fairs, and trade before its redevelopment in 1896–1897 into a park. Subsequent to the February 2011 earthquake, the square was located in the Central City Red Zone and was closed, reopening in November 2012. Its notable landmarks include the Captain James Cook statue, Queen Victoria statue, H. L. Bowker Fountain, and the Victoria Square Poupou. It also features the country's oldest cast iron and stone bridge, now known as the Hamish Hay Bridge.

Victoria Square is one of four squares located in the Christchurch Central City. It is located just north-west from its centre, Cathedral Square. Colombo Street is the north-south street through Cathedral Square, and it forms the eastern boundary of Victoria Square. Armagh Street bounds the square on the southern side. The Avon River diagonally bisects the square. In the early days, Oxford and Cambridge Terraces ran alongside the river, but those streets now stop short of Victoria Square. The square was initially bisected by Whately Road (named after the Archbishop of Dublin, Richard Whately, who was a member of the Canterbury Association.), later renamed Victoria Street, and this formed a major route to the north towards Papanui and beyond. Other boundary streets are Kilmore and Durham Streets on the northern and western boundaries, respectively. Victoria Street was stopped in 1988 under much public protest when the Parkroyal Hotel, the later Crowne Plaza, was built. When the Crowne Plaza was demolished in 2011/12 following the earthquakes, some were calling for the road to be restored; this included central city business leader Paul Lonsdale. This caused quite a storm of opposition, and soon after, the idea of restoring the road was dropped.

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