Battery Path
{{Short description|Street in Central, Hong Kong}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox street
| name = Battery Path
| native_name ={{native name|yue|炮台里}}
| image = HK Battery Path 6-1.jpg
| caption = Entrance of Battery Path, near the junction of Queen's Road Central and Ice House Street
| length_m =
| length_ft =
| length_mi =
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| location = Central, Hong Kong
| coordinates = {{coord|22|16|47|N|114|09|34|E|type:landmark|display=title,inline}}
| direction_a = West
| terminus_a = Queen's Road Central
| direction_b = East
| terminus_b = Garden Road
| junction =
| construction_start_date =
| completion_date = 1841
}}
{{Chinese
|c=炮台里
|j=paau3 toi4 lei5
|p=Pàotái Lǐ
}}
Battery Path ({{zh|t=炮台里}}) is a pedestrian-only footpath located beneath Government Hill in Central, Hong Kong. Named after Murray Battery, it stretches from Queen's Road Central to Garden Road. The path is noted for many historical landmarks situated on it, most notably the Former Central Government Offices, the Former French Mission Building and St. John's Cathedral.
History
File:HK Battery Path 6-2.jpg as seen from Battery Path.]]
During the First Opium War, the British occupied Hong Kong in 1841 and one year later, the territory was ceded to them in the Treaty of Nanking. The new administration chose the site around present-day Battery Path to build its headquarters and defences.{{cite news|title=Why Government Hill needs to be conserved|url=http://travel.cnn.com/hong-kong/life/government-hill-738180|date=3 May 2011|access-date=7 March 2013|first=Christopher|last=DeWolf|publisher=CNN}} Construction on the path was completed in approximately 1841, at around the same time that its namesake—Murray Battery—was built.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qTAZLIY3D7QC&dq=battery+path+hong+kong&pg=PA22|title=Streets: Exploring Hong Kong Island|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|date=1 May 2002|last=Wordie|first=Jason|pages=21–22|isbn=9789622095632|access-date=7 March 2013}} At the time, both the path and the battery were located on Hong Kong Island's waterfront with Victoria Harbour.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Yt_z670d9QC&dq=battery+path+hong+kong&pg=PA49|title=Frommer's Hong Kong Day by Day|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|date=21 February 2011|last=Bond|first=Graham|pages=49|isbn=9780470945872|access-date=7 March 2013}} However, it is now situated much farther inland due to the amount of land reclamation that has been undertaken since its opening.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ijM7Ha3zcjoC&dq=battery+path+hong+kong&pg=PA28|title=Exploring Hong Kong: A Visitor's Guide to Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories|publisher=ThingsAsian Press|date=1 November 2009|last=Bailey|first=Steven K.|pages=28|isbn=9781934159163|access-date=7 March 2013}}
During the early twentieth century, the path was popular with and frequented daily by sedan chair drivers, who would take advantage of the shade provided by the banyan that lined the sides of the road. Although the use of sedan chairs ceased after the 1960s, the trees remain in the same place.
Description and features
From its western end, Battery Path begins at the junction between Queen's Road Central{{cite news|title=Hong Kong's Second World War|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703730804576318591756167096|date=12 May 2011|access-date=8 March 2013|first=Euan|last=McKirdy|newspaper=Wall Street Journal}} {{subscription required}} and Ice House Street. It separates from the main thoroughfare through a series of stairs elevating the path above Queen's Road; the stairs are located next to the West Wing of the Former Central Government Offices. The next landmark on the route is the Former French Mission Building. Located on 1 Battery Path, this neoclassical building currently houses the Court of Final Appeal.{{cite web|title=Former French Mission Building, Battery Path, Central – Declared Monuments|url=http://www.amo.gov.hk/en/monuments_37.php|access-date=8 March 2013|work=Antiquities and Monuments Office|publisher=Government of Hong Kong|archive-date=16 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216065244/http://www.amo.gov.hk/en/monuments_37.php|url-status=dead}} The path ends at the intersection with Garden Road, where St. John's Cathedral is located.
See also
References
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
External links
- {{commons category-inline|Battery Path}}
{{Central, Hong Kong}}
{{HKislandroads}}
{{Portal bar|Hong Kong|British Empire|Roads}}
Category:1841 establishments in Hong Kong