Cenotaph and War Memorial Museum

At the behest of tsuken (who posted this yesterday) that I should return and take another picture of the War Memorial, I did so. Normally, I try to run in a completely different direction from day to day, but this time I repeated the start of one of my standard courses, and went back to the Auckland Domain and the War Memorial Museum.

As you can see, the main Auckland Cenotaph commemorating those who fought in the two World Wars (and now also every other 20th century war) is in front of the Museum. The Museum was opened in 1929, and is built in the neo-classical style. It sits on a grassy knoll which is the remains of one of Auckland's many dormant volcanoes, in the centre of the Auckland Domain.

The first Auckland Museum was established in 1852 in a cottage where the University of Auckland is now. In 1869 it combined with the Auckland Institute, moving to a new building close to Government House (now also part of the Auckland University campus). The need for more space coincided with a desire to commemorate the soldiers who were killed in World War I. After a world wide architectural competition (won by an Auckland firm), the building was commissioned, built and remains in use.

One of the most moving areas in the museum is the wall engraved with the names of all those who fought and died for country and Empire; most believed they were fighting for freedom. Like many museums. there have been major changes elsewhere within the museum to make it "more relevant"; this part will for ever be relevant to the aspirations of ordinary people. My lovely S reports that when she stayed with family in Auckland during school holidays, the Museum was her favourite place, and was a source of calm, and restful quiet.

I took a number of pictures at different angles, one with more of the dawn sky visible. I thought of cropping, decreasing shadow intensity and eventually chose this as it was. It deserves to stand on its own merits.

This can be a second entry in this week's challenge.

Thanks to all those who looked on my post yesterday: I did not expect such attention.