| Statue of Queen Victoria | |
|---|---|
 The statue in Victoria Park in 2017 | |
 | |
| Artist | Mario Raggi |
| Medium | Bronze sculpture |
| Subject | Queen Victoria |
| Location | Hong Kong |
| 22°16′52″N114°11′22″E / 22.281115°N 114.189348°E Coordinates: 22°16′52″N114°11′22″E / 22.281115°N 114.189348°E | |
The statue of Queen Victoria is a bronze sculpture by Mario Raggi. It is currently installed in Victoria Park, in Causeway Bay, Wan Chai District, Hong Kong, near the Causeway Road entrance of the park.
This statue was cast in Pimlico, London, and was originally installed at the centre of Statue Square in Central, the main business district of Hong Kong, where it was unveiled by then-Governor William Robinson on 28 May 1896, the day officially appointed for the celebration of the seventy-seventh birthday of Queen Victoria. [1] During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, it was taken to Japan to be melted down, along with other statues from the square. After the war, the statue of Queen Victoria was brought back to Hong Kong, but the other statues were never found. In 1952, the late Queen Victoria's statue was restored and placed in Victoria Park.
In 1996, shortly before Hong Kong's handover to China, artist Pun Sing-lui (Chinese :潘星磊; pinyin :Pān Xīnglěi) tipped red paint over the statue and smashed its nose with a hammer. [2] Pun was a recent immigrant from Mainland China who had become disillusioned with Hong Kong culture. [3] The vandalism intended to serve as a protest against "dull colonial culture" and to encourage "cultural reunification with "red" China". [3] [4] His actions were decried as vandalism "in discord with popular opinions and the concurrent cultural atmosphere" and an "attack on Hong Kong culture". [3] The statue was subsequently restored, at a cost of $150,000. [4]
Wan Chai is situated at the western part of Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to the south. The area north of Gloucester Road is often referred to as Wan Chai North.
Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of 16,390 per square kilometre (42,400/sq mi), as of 2008. The island had a population of about 3,000 inhabitants scattered in a dozen fishing villages when it was occupied by the United Kingdom in the First Opium War (1839–1842). In 1842, the island was formally ceded in perpetuity to the UK under the Treaty of Nanking and the City of Victoria was then established on the island by the British Force in honour of Queen Victoria. The Central area on the island is the historical, political and economic centre of Hong Kong. The northern coast of the island forms the southern shore of the Victoria Harbour, which is largely responsible for the development of Hong Kong due to its deep waters favoured by large trade ships.
Causeway Bay is an area and a bay on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, straddling the border of the Eastern and the Wan Chai districts. It is a major shopping, leisure and cultural centre in Hong Kong, with a number of major shopping centres. The rents in the shopping areas of Causeway Bay were ranked as the world's most expensive for the second year in a row in 2013, after overtaking New York City's Fifth Avenue in 2012. When referring to the area, the Cantonese name is never written in English as "Tung Lo Wan".
The City of Victoria, often called Victoria City or simply Victoria, was the de facto capital of Hong Kong during its time as a British dependent territory. It was initially named Queenstown but was soon known as Victoria. It was one of the first urban settlements in Hong Kong and its boundaries are recorded in the Laws of Hong Kong. All government bureaux and many key departments still have their head offices located within its limit.
HSBC Main Building is a headquarters building of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which is today a wholly owned subsidiary of London-based HSBC Holdings. It is located on the southern side of Statue Square near the location of the old City Hall, Hong Kong. The previous HSBC building was built in 1935 and pulled down to make way for the current building. The address remains as 1 Queen's Road Central.
Statue Square is a public pedestrian square in Central, Hong Kong. Built entirely on reclaimed land at the end of the 19th century, Statue Square consists of two parts separated by Chater Road into a northern and a southern section. It is bordered by Connaught Road Central in the north and by Des Voeux Road Central in the south.
Victoria Park is a public park in Causeway Bay, Wan Chai District, Hong Kong. The park is named after Queen Victoria, who has a statue in the park. It is around 190,000 square metres (19 ha) in size and contains sporting facilities for tennis, association football, basketball, handball, volleyball, swimming, jogging, fitness, roller skating, and bowling.
Sheung Wan is an area in Hong Kong, located in the north-west of Hong Kong Island, between Central and Sai Ying Pun. Administratively, it is part of the Central and Western District. The name can be variously interpreted as Upper District, or Gateway District.
Sai Wan, also known as Western district, or simply Western, is an area in Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong that corresponds to Sai Ying Pun, Shek Tong Tsui, Belcher Bay and Kennedy Town. However, Some Hong Kong people consider Kennedy Town as the only part of Sai Wan. It formed part of the City of Victoria. West Point, a former cape where major government structures in Sai Wan are close to, also used to refer to Sai Wan.
Sai Ying Pun is an area in Western District, on Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. It is administratively part of the Central and Western District.
Causeway Road is a main road in Hong Kong. Situated in Causeway Bay, it joins Yee Wo Street in the west and King's Road. It is a boundary of Eastern District and Wan Chai District. North side of the road is Victoria Park in Eastern District while in the Wan Chai District in the south are Queen's College and Hong Kong Central Library.
Tin Hau is an area in Wan Chai District, on the north side of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong.
King George V Memorial Park, Hong Kong is an urban park in Sai Ying Pun and one of the few parks in Hong Kong bearing the former colonial links to the territory's past.
Route 5 was a bus route on Hong Kong Island operated by Citybus, between Felix Villas (摩星嶺) and Causeway Bay (銅鑼灣威非路道).
The Central and Western District located on northwestern part of Hong Kong Island is one of the 18 administrative districts of Hong Kong. It had a population of 243,266 in 2016. The district has the most educated residents with the second highest income and the third lowest population due to its relatively small size.
Mario Raggi was an Italian sculptor who settled in England where he received several public commissions for statues of civic figures.
Various headquarters and branch buildings of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation feature a pair of lion sculptures. The HSBC lions have become distinctive landmarks in their own right in Hong Kong and Shanghai, with further pairs to be found in London and Birmingham.
The statue of Sir Thomas Jackson, 1st Baronet is a bronze sculpture by Mario Raggi, installed in Statue Square, a public pedestrian square in Central, Hong Kong. It was unveiled on 24 February 1906 by the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Matthew Nathan. At that time, the statue was facing the HSBC building.
A statue of Queen Victoria stands in front of the National Library of Malta in Republic Square, Valletta, Malta. Sculpted out of marble by the Sicilian artist Giuseppe Valenti, the statue depicts the Queen sitting down and wearing a shawl of Maltese lace. It was installed in the square on 5 August 1891, replacing a bronze statue of António Manoel de Vilhena.
Media related to Statue of Victoria in Victoria Park, Hong Kong at Wikimedia Commons Media related to Statue of Victoria on Statue Square at Wikimedia Commons
