Travel with romance. One of the most beautiful castles in Canada with a romantic history is, without a doubt, Boldt Castle on Hart Island. This island is located in the Thousand Islands archipelago in the St. Lawrence River.

The castle was built by George Boldt, who was born in Germany in 1851. In 1864, he immigrated to the United States. He began his career as a kitchen worker in New York, and at the age of 25, he was hired by his future father-in-law as a manager of the dining room of the most prestigious men's club in Philadelphia. Soon George went into the hotel business on his own, building and managing luxurious large hotels.

In 1877, 26-year-old Boldt married 15-year-old Louise Kehrer. Two years later, a son was born, and four years later, a daughter. In 1900, Boldt began construction of the castle, intended as a gift for his wife. Three hundred workers, including masons, carpenters, plumbers, electricians worked on the six-story castle with 120 rooms and 365 windows. The workers received one and a half dollars an hour, the workday lasted 9-10 hours. The castle included a tunnel, a power plant, an Italian garden, a drawbridge. The roof was laid with ceramic tiles with a total area of ​​30 thousand square feet. A special well was drilled with a diameter of 14 inches and a depth of 55 feet for an elevator that ran on water power. Hart Island, at Boldt's direction, acquired the shape of a heart ("valentine"). The same motif was repeated in many elements of the decoration. Boldt was going to time the gift to coincide with his wife's birthday, which fell on St. Valentine's Day. In January 1904, 41-year-old Louise, who was in poor health, suddenly died. Shocked by grief, Boldt immediately stopped all construction work, and for 73 years the unfinished castle remained abandoned, falling into disrepair.

Three hundred workers employed in the construction, marble from Italy, an underground tunnel, a beloved wife who suddenly died of heart problems - all these are just some of the details that surprisingly coincide in the stories of the famous Toronto castle Casa Loma and Boldt Castle.

In 1977, an American company that owns the 1000 Islands Bridge system purchased Boldt Castle and completed construction. The cost of reconstruction was $ 35 million. Now this castle, located on the small Hart Island with an area of ​​5.5 acres, is constantly included in the top 25 most visited historic buildings in the United States. Over the past forty years, about six and a half million people have visited the castle.

Today, the building has been partially restored, they tried to preserve the style of the building in the spirit of the early 20th century. The granite walls are decorated with decorative details, and the roof is also covered in the same way. Hewitt's design was not based on any specific rules, so the building does not have any specific symmetry. The castle has six towers and twenty clearly defined roof elevations.

Boldt consists of 127 rooms (including thirty bathrooms) located on seven floors surrounding a rotunda topped by a large glass dome. Around the central atrium (at ground floor level) are five main rooms: a reception room, a library, a dining room, a billiards room and a ballroom. Other rooms open to the public are in the basement, this is the swimming pool, and on the fifth floor a special tea room, which opens onto the roof terrace.

There are also three other architectural monuments on the island that are open to the public. This is the large yacht dock that still stands, the Alster tower, nicknamed the "little castle", and the monumental Triumphal Arch, dating from 1900, which served as the "water gate" to the lagoon. Boldt wanted a dome on it, as a sign of his love for his wife.

Hart Island has another unique feature - it is home to a US customs post, but, unlike all other customs posts in the United States, there is no corresponding Canadian customs post.

In order to land on Hart Island, you must have the usual documents required to cross the Canada-US border. At the same time, the island can be circumnavigated on a Canadian cruise ship, in which case no documents are required.