Remembrance Day: Parliament Hill's Centre Block stands as a memorial to fallen soldiers

Across Canada people gather on Nov. 11 the day the hostilities of the First World War ended in 1918tohonour the courage and devotion of the brave men and women who made the supreme sacrifice for their country.

This sort of remembrance typically takes place at a local memorial, or cenotaph, where the names of the war dead are inscribed.

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In Ottawa today, tens of thousands will gather around the National War Memorial for the official ceremonypresided over by Governor GeneralDavid Johnston, Tom Eagles, the dominion presidentof the Royal Canadian Legionand Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Ottawa's other memorial to fallen heroes

But there is another structurein Ottawa that also stands as a monumentto Canada's fallen soldiers: the main building on Parliament Hill itself.

In the midst of the Great War, in 1916,a fire broke out in the Centre Block on theHill, burning the Gothic-style building to the ground, sparing only the adjoining Library of Parliament.

As Johanna Mizagala, the House curator, describes in the video above, the government of Canada set out to quickly rebuild and devote the new building to fallen servicemen and women.

The symbols of remembrance on Parliament Hillare pervasive:John McRae's iconic poem,In Flanders Fields, isinscribed on the walls.

Thewalls of Confederation Hall, the main entrance to Centre Block, andthe Hall of Honour, are decoratedwith commemorative plaques referring to the fire, the Fathers ofConfederation and the Great War.Poppies have been carved into virtually every surface in the building.

But the centrepiece is the national shrine, the memorial chamber,a tribute to Canadians who had given their lives during the Great War in France and in Flanders.

John Pearson, the architect who designed the rebuiltCentre Block, described the room as a "sacred grove in the middle of the forest."

The floors and the walls of the room are made from stone Pearson personally collected from the main battlefields in Europe where Canadians perished.

And the focal point of the chamber is the altar astunningblock of British Hoptonwood limestone which contains the Book of Remembrance that holds the names of over 66,000 Canadians who died during the Great War.

Today, there are six more altars around the chamber with separate books listing those who died in conflicts from the Nile Expedition to the Korean War, to more recent wars.

Watch the video above as CBC News takes you inside Parliamentand the memorial chamber.

What to expect on Nov. 11

There will be prayers, apublic wreath-laying, the playing of the Last Post, a salute to the veterans and a moment of silence at today's Remembrance Day national ceremony.

The dignitaries who will be in attendance are as follows:

• Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, andSophieGrgoire-Trudeau.
• Their Excellencies the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, and Mrs.Sharon Johnston.
• Leo Housakos, speaker of the Senate of Canada.
• Stphane Dion, minister of foreign affairs.
• Kent Hehr, minister of veterans affairs.
• Harjit Singh Sajjan, minister of national defence.
• Gen.Jonathan Vance, chief of the defence staff, Canadian Armed Forces.
• Tom Eagles, dominion president, Royal Canadian Legion.
• Brad White, dominion secretary, Royal Canadian Legion.
• Sheila Anderson, 2015 National Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother.

The CBC's coverage

Join CBC News Wednesday for live coverage of Canada's Remembrance Day ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.

Follow the conversation onlineat CBCNews.ca, which will run a liveblog starting at 10 a.m. ET and willlivestream the ceremony at the same time.

Use the hashtag #HowIRemember to share your thoughtsaboutRemembrance Day.

You can also watch the Remembrance Day special hosted byThe National'sPeter Mansbridge at 10 a.m. ET on CBC News Network or on CBC Television at 10 a.m. in each time zone.

Listeners can tune in to CBC Radio One at 10:55 a.m. ET for special coveragehosted by Susan Bonner. She'll be joined by Second World War veteran Jim Parks, who landed onJuno Beach with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles infantry regiment on D-Day.