The Princes' Gates

The Princes' Gates were built in 1927 at the main entrance to Exhibition Place, timed to mark the diamond jubilee of Canadian Confederation that same year. The monumental Beaux-Arts arch, topped with a bronze winged figure representing the Goddess of Winged Victory, was designed to give the CNE grounds a suitably grand ceremonial entrance for a fairground that by the 1920s was drawing millions of visitors annually.

Named for the princes who opened them

The gates take their name from Prince Edward, later briefly King Edward VIII, and his brother Prince George, who together presided over the structure's official opening in 1927 during a royal visit tied to the jubilee celebrations. The arch has remained the recognizable formal entrance to the CNE grounds and Exhibition Place ever since, appearing behind the annual fair's crowds in decades of photographs and, more recently, as a backdrop for the Canadian International Air Show held over the same grounds.

Sources

• The Canadian Encyclopedia — Canadian National Exhibition
• Wikipedia — Princes' Gates

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