Distillery District

The Distillery District is a pedestrian-only quarter on the east side of downtown Toronto, built from the former Gooderham and Worts distillery complex. Its cobbled lanes and rows of red-brick warehouses make it one of the most intact collections of Victorian-era industrial buildings in the country, and the area has been designated a National Historic Site of Canada. It feels more like a small village than a part of a modern city, and it is one of the places in Toronto where you can walk for a while without meeting a car.

The Gooderham and Worts firm began on this stretch of the waterfront in 1832, when a windmill was set up to grind grain. A distillery followed, and by the later nineteenth century it had grown into one of the largest in the British Empire, with a cluster of mills, tank houses, stillhouses, cooperages and storehouses. The buildings were designed to be practical and fireproof, with heavy timber frames and thick brick walls, and their plain, handsome Victorian look comes from that purpose. Whisky production here eventually stopped, and for years the site was used mainly as a film location. Redevelopment as a place for artists, restaurants and shops followed, and it opened to the public in 2003.

Today the old warehouses hold galleries, studios, boutiques, cafes and restaurants. The Young Centre for the Performing Arts hosts Soulpepper Theatre, and a regular rhythm of small exhibitions fills the converted spaces. Mill Street Brew Pub carries on the district's drinking tradition with beer brewed in the neighbourhood, and chocolatiers, coffee roasters and craft makers keep the lanes busy through the day. Public art is scattered through the streets, and the historic ironwork, loading doors and old rail tracks are left visible among the new fittings.

The district is busiest at weekends, and it changes with the seasons. In winter the Distillery Winter Village fills the lanes with a Christmas market, lights and music, and the Toronto Light Festival has used the old buildings as a backdrop for illuminated installations. In warm months the patios fill, and the cobbles are pleasant to walk.

Visitors who enjoy architecture and urban regeneration will like it. It suits couples, photographers and anyone interested in architecture and urban regeneration, and it makes an easy half-day on its own. Wear comfortable shoes, because the cobblestones are uneven. Public transit runs to the neighbourhood, but many visitors combine it with a walk from the St. Lawrence Market or the waterfront. Visit on a weekday morning if you want the quiet lanes and the best light for photographs of the brickwork.