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Roots Earth in Toronto: audio stories about 48 places

Roots Earth has audio stories about 48 places in Toronto, Canada, in North America. The Toronto stories are in all seven Roots Earth languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The app needs no account: open Toronto, pick a place on the city's map of places and play. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection. The stories are written by local people.

The 48 places are listed below in the order the app shows them, and again further down with their coordinates. The lists were taken from the Roots Earth catalogue on 15 September 2026.

Published 16 September 2026. Markdown: toronto.md

The 48 places in Toronto with audio stories

In the order the app shows them.

  1. CN Tower
  2. Royal Ontario Museum
  3. Casa Loma
  4. Art Gallery of Ontario
  5. Toronto City Hall
  6. Nathan Phillips Square
  7. Old City Hall
  8. Ontario Legislative Building
  9. Cathedral Church of St. James
  10. St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica
  11. Metropolitan United Church
  12. Church of the Holy Trinity
  13. Distillery District
  14. St. Lawrence Market
  15. St. Lawrence Hall
  16. Gooderham Building
  17. Union Station
  18. Fort York
  19. Hockey Hall of Fame
  20. Rogers Centre
  21. Scotiabank Arena
  22. Toronto Islands
  23. Royal Alexandra Theatre
  24. Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres
  25. Massey Hall
  26. Sankofa Square
  27. Osgoode Hall
  28. Toronto-Dominion Centre
  29. First Canadian Place
  30. Gardiner Museum
  31. Bata Shoe Museum
  32. University College
  33. Kensington Market
  34. Chinatown
  35. Little Italy
  36. Greektown
  37. Yorkville
  38. The Annex
  39. Cabbagetown
  40. Queen Street West
  41. The Beaches
  42. Roncesvalles
  43. Little Portugal
  44. Gerrard India Bazaar
  45. Church and Wellesley
  46. Allan Gardens
  47. High Park
  48. Mount Pleasant Cemetery

Is there an audio guide for CN Tower?

Yes. CN Tower has its audio stories in the Roots Earth app: a short introduction and a deeper story, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian.

It is place 1 of the 48 Toronto places in the app, at 43.64255556, -79.38708333. Every one of the other 47 places in the list above has the same two stories.

Roots Earth is not a guided tour: you choose the place on the city's map of places and play its story yourself.

How to use Roots Earth in Toronto

Open Roots Earth and choose Toronto. The city has its own map of places with all 48 of them on it. Tap the place you are standing in front of, or any other, and play its short introduction or its deeper story. You decide what to listen to and in which order.

You can listen in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian, and there is no account. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection.

In full

All 48 places in Toronto, in the app's order, with their coordinates.

All 48 places in Toronto, with coordinates

Every place below has a short introduction and a deeper story in the Roots Earth app, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The names, the coordinates (latitude, longitude) and the one line descriptions are the app's own catalogue values of 15 September 2026; a place without a line here has none that this page can print.

1. CN Tower

Coordinates
43.64255556, -79.38708333
In one line
Rising 553 metres above the waterfront, this concrete communications tower was completed in 1976 for Canadian National Railway.

2. Royal Ontario Museum

Coordinates
43.667679, -79.394809
In one line
Canada's largest museum opened its original Romanesque Revival galleries in 1914 and added a jagged glass and aluminium Crystal by Daniel Libeskind in 2007. Inside, more than eighteen million objects span natural history and world cultures across forty galleries.

3. Casa Loma

Coordinates
43.6781, -79.4095
In one line
Built between 1911 and 1914 for the financier Sir Henry Pellatt, this Gothic Revival mansion of 98 rooms was Canada's largest private home. Designed by E. J. Lennox, it was left partly unfinished when Pellatt's fortune collapsed.

5. Toronto City Hall

Coordinates
43.65333333, -79.38388889
In one line
Two curved concrete towers cradle a saucer-shaped council chamber in this modernist landmark, opened in 1965. Designed by the Finnish architect Viljo Revell after a global competition drawing 540 entries, it announced the city's bold turn toward modern architecture.

6. Nathan Phillips Square

Coordinates
43.6525, -79.38361111
In one line
Opened in 1965 as the city's great public plaza, this 4. 85-hectare square holds a reflecting pool that freezes into a winter skating rink, three arches, and the illuminated Toronto sign. It is named for Mayor Nathan Phillips.

7. Old City Hall

Coordinates
43.6525, -79.38166667
In one line
Completed in 1899 to a Richardsonian Romanesque design by E. J. Lennox, this sandstone landmark served as city hall and courthouse for decades. Its 103-metre clock tower, gargoyles and carved faces still anchor the foot of Bay Street.

8. Ontario Legislative Building

Coordinates
43.662447, -79.391708
In one line
Opened in 1893 at Queen's Park, this Richardsonian Romanesque landmark in pink sandstone houses the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Designed by Richard Waite, the rose-hued building is fondly known as the Pink Palace.

9. Cathedral Church of St. James

Coordinates
43.65027778, -79.37388889
In one line
Toronto's oldest Anglican congregation worships beneath a soaring Gothic Revival spire that rises nearly 93 metres. Built between 1850 and 1853 on King Street East, the cathedral crowns the city's earliest established parish with pointed arches and a historic churchyard.

10. St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica

Coordinates
43.655, -79.377
In one line
Mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto, this English Gothic Revival cathedral was built between 1845 and 1848 to designs by William Thomas. Raised to minor basilica in 2016, it features a 79-metre tower, stained glass, and a restored painted interior.

11. Metropolitan United Church

Coordinates
43.653974, -79.376666
In one line
Known as the Cathedral of Methodism, this Gothic Revival church on Queen Street East was first dedicated in 1872 to designs by Henry Langley. Rebuilt after a 1928 fire, it boasts a 54-bell carillon and one of Canada's largest pipe organs.

12. Church of the Holy Trinity

Coordinates
43.65472222, -79.38166667
In one line
Built in 1847 to designs by Henry Bowyer Lane, this Gothic Revival church survives in Trinity Square, encircled by the Eaton Centre.

13. Distillery District

Coordinates
43.65028, -79.35944
In one line
North America's best-preserved collection of Victorian industrial architecture, this 13-acre quarter grew from the Gooderham and Worts distillery begun in 1837. Closed in 1990 and reborn in 2003, its cobblestone lanes now hold galleries, cafes, and theatres.

14. St. Lawrence Market

Coordinates
43.64888889, -79.37166667
In one line
One of North America's oldest markets, with roots reaching to 1803, its South Market hall incorporates Toronto's former City Hall of 1845. Repeatedly ranked among the world's best food markets, it draws crowds to vendor stalls and peameal bacon.

15. St. Lawrence Hall

Coordinates
43.65027778, -79.37222222
In one line
Saint Lawrence Hall is an 1850 Renaissance Revival landmark at King and Jarvis streets, designed by William Thomas. Its grand upstairs ballroom hosted concerts, exhibitions, and pre-Confederation political meetings that helped shape early Canada.

16. Gooderham Building

Coordinates
43.648366, -79.374284
In one line
The Gooderham Building is Toronto's iconic wedge-shaped "Flatiron," completed in 1892 by architect David Roberts Junior. Built as offices for the Gooderham and Worts distillery, its Romanesque Revival red brick rises five floors to a copper roof.

17. Union Station

Coordinates
43.64444444, -79.38027778
In one line
Union Station is Toronto's Beaux-Arts railway temple, built between 1914 and 1927 and opened by the Prince of Wales. Its colonnade of 22 limestone columns fronts a soaring Great Hall, and today it handles roughly 72 million passengers a year.

18. Fort York

Coordinates
43.63888889, -79.40361111
In one line
Fort York is the birthplace of Toronto, founded in 1793 by John Graves Simcoe. Site of the 1813 Battle of York in the War of 1812, it preserves Canada's largest collection of original War of 1812 buildings behind its restored brick walls.

19. Hockey Hall of Fame

Coordinates
43.6469, -79.3772
In one line
The Hockey Hall of Fame honours the sport's greatest figures inside a former Bank of Montreal building from the 1880s at Yonge and Front. Since 1993 its Great Hall has displayed the original Stanley Cup beneath a stained-glass dome.

20. Rogers Centre

Coordinates
43.64138889, -79.38916667
In one line
Rogers Centre, opened in 1989 as SkyDome, was North America's first major sports stadium with a fully retractable roof. Home of baseball's Toronto Blue Jays, its four-panel roof spans 345,000 square feet beside the CN Tower.

21. Scotiabank Arena

Coordinates
43.64333333, -79.37916667
In one line
Scotiabank Arena, opened in 1999, is home to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors. Built around the Art Deco facade of the 1940 Toronto Postal Delivery Building, it seats nearly 20,000 fans in the heart of downtown.

22. Toronto Islands

Coordinates
43.62083333, -79.37861111
In one line
A chain of fifteen low islands in Lake Ontario, severed from the mainland by an 1858 storm.

23. Royal Alexandra Theatre

Coordinates
43.64722222, -79.3875
In one line
A Beaux-Arts playhouse opened in 1907, designed by John M. Lyle and financed by 21-year-old Cawthra Mulock. Saved from demolition by Ed Mirvish in 1963, it is the oldest continuously operating legitimate theatre in North America.

24. Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres

Coordinates
43.65305556, -79.37916667
In one line
A double-decker pair of stacked playhouses opened in 1913 by architect Thomas W. Lamb for Marcus Loew. The world's last surviving Edwardian stacked theatres, with the upper Winter Garden draped in painted gardens and real beech leaves. Restored and reopened in 1989.

25. Massey Hall

Coordinates
43.65416667, -79.37902778
In one line
A beloved concert hall opened in 1894, the gift of industrialist Hart Massey and designed by Sidney Badgley. Its Moorish-inspired interior has hosted legendary nights, including the 1953 jazz summit and countless Gordon Lightfoot shows. Renovated and reopened in 2021.

26. Sankofa Square

Coordinates
43.65611111, -79.38027778
In one line
Toronto's bustling public plaza at Yonge and Dundas, opened in 2003 and designed by Brown and Storey Architects. Renamed Sankofa Square in 2024, after a Ghanaian Akan symbol of learning from the past. Famous for its programmable fountains and constant crowds.

27. Osgoode Hall

Coordinates
43.65222222, -79.38555556
In one line
A dignified Neoclassical legal complex begun in 1829 and named for William Osgoode, first Chief Justice of Upper Canada. Home to the Law Society of Ontario and the Court of Appeal, famed for its ornate Great Library and curious cattle-baffling iron gates.

28. Toronto-Dominion Centre

Coordinates
43.6479, -79.3808
In one line
A landmark cluster of black-steel modernist towers begun in 1964, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as his final major project. Its bronze-tinted glass, exposed I-beams, and serene banking pavilion brought International Style purity to Toronto's skyline.

29. First Canadian Place

Coordinates
43.64877778, -79.38169444
In one line
Completed in 1975, First Canadian Place rises 298 meters as the headquarters of the Bank of Montreal. Once clad in white Carrara marble and now in glass, it remained Canada's tallest building for half a century.

30. Gardiner Museum

Coordinates
43.668163, -79.393151
In one line
Opened in 1984, the Gardiner Museum is Canada's national ceramics museum. Founded by George and Helen Gardiner, it holds more than 4,000 objects spanning ancient American pottery, Italian maiolica, and European porcelain on Queen's Park Crescent.

31. Bata Shoe Museum

Coordinates
43.66722222, -79.40027778
In one line
Opened in 1995 in a shoebox-shaped building by Raymond Moriyama, the Bata Shoe Museum holds the world's largest footwear collection. Founded by Sonja Bata, it gathers more than 13,000 shoes spanning 4,500 years of human history.

32. University College

Coordinates
43.66277778, -79.39555556
In one line
Built between 1856 and 1859 in a Norman Romanesque Revival style by Frederic Cumberland, University College is the founding non-denominational college of the University of Toronto. A National Historic Site, it survived a devastating fire in 1890.

33. Kensington Market

Coordinates
43.65477222, -79.40067778
In one line
A dense grid of Victorian houses turned shopfronts west of Spadina, Kensington Market grew from a Jewish immigrant market in the early 20th century into Toronto's most layered multicultural neighborhood. It was named a National Historic Site in 2006.

34. Chinatown

Coordinates
43.6529, -79.398
In one line
Centered on Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West, Toronto's downtown Chinatown grew after the original enclave at Bay and Dundas was demolished for City Hall. It is one of North America's largest Chinatowns, dense with shops, herbalists, and restaurants.

35. Little Italy

Coordinates
43.655, -79.413
In one line
Stretching along College Street between Bathurst and Ossington, Little Italy formed as Toronto's main Italian enclave by the 1920s. Though most Italian families moved north decades ago, its cafes, restaurants, and a Walk of Fame keep the heritage alive.

36. Greektown

Coordinates
43.67847222, -79.34722222
In one line
Greektown lines Danforth Avenue in east Toronto, a lively stretch of tavernas, bakeries and cafes with bilingual street signs. Once the largest Greek district in North America, it remains famous for its summer Taste of the Danforth festival.

37. Yorkville

Coordinates
43.67027778, -79.39111111
In one line
Yorkville developed as a suburban community with residential, industrial and commercial activity; in 1836 Joseph Bloor and William Botsford Jarvis began laying out village lots. Today its Victorian streets and the Bloor Street Mink Mile hold luxury boutiques, galleries and grand hotels.

38. The Annex

Coordinates
43.67, -79.404
In one line
The Annex is a leafy Toronto neighborhood of grand Victorian and Edwardian houses, named for an 1880s subdivision annexed to the city. Home to writers, students and the University of Toronto, it famously fought off a planned expressway.

39. Cabbagetown

Coordinates
43.6664, -79.3629
In one line
Cabbagetown holds the largest unbroken stretch of preserved Victorian housing in North America. Named for the cabbages poor Irish immigrants grew in their yards, it fell into a slum, then revived as one of Toronto's most cherished historic districts.

40. Queen Street West

Coordinates
43.649584, -79.39241
In one line
Queen Street West is Toronto's long artery of art, fashion and music. Once Lot Street, then renamed for Queen Victoria, its West Queen West stretch of galleries and boutiques has been ranked among the coolest neighborhoods in the world.

41. The Beaches

Coordinates
43.667266, -79.297128
In one line
The Beaches is a lakeside Toronto neighborhood of sandy shoreline, a long boardwalk and an easygoing summer-resort spirit. Once home to amusement parks, it now draws crowds to its beaches, Kew Gardens and its summer jazz festival.

42. Roncesvalles

Coordinates
43.646231, -79.449048
In one line
Roncesvalles is the heart of Toronto's Polish community, a tree-lined avenue of delis, cafes and the historic Revue Cinema near High Park. Named for a Spanish battle, it hosts North America's largest Polish festival each September.

43. Little Portugal

Coordinates
43.65, -79.43555556
In one line
Little Portugal is a west-end Toronto neighbourhood shaped by mid-century Portuguese migration, its bakeries, social clubs and tiled storefronts clustered along Dundas Street West and College Street between Ossington and Lansdowne avenues.

44. Gerrard India Bazaar

Coordinates
43.67153, -79.32441
In one line
The Gerrard India Bazaar lines Gerrard Street East between Greenwood and Coxwell avenues, a South Asian commercial strip founded in 1972 around a Bollywood cinema, now filled with sari shops, sweet stores and restaurants.

45. Church and Wellesley

Coordinates
43.66555556, -79.38083333
In one line
Church and Wellesley is Toronto's LGBTQ village, centred on Church Street downtown. Rooted in community organising after the 1981 bathhouse raids, it hosts Pride, rainbow crosswalks, the 519 community centre and the AIDS Memorial.

46. Allan Gardens

Coordinates
43.66166667, -79.37444444
In one line
Allan Gardens is a downtown Toronto park and botanical conservatory dating to 1860, gifted by George William Allan. Its 1910 Palm House, a glass and steel dome, shelters six greenhouses of tropical and arid plants year-round.

47. High Park

Coordinates
43.646821, -79.462996
In one line
High Park is Toronto's largest downtown park, spanning about 161 hectares. Bequeathed by John George Howard from 1873 and opened in 1876, it holds Grenadier Pond, rare oak savannah, a zoo and celebrated cherry blossoms.

48. Mount Pleasant Cemetery

Coordinates
43.696351, -79.384882
In one line
Mount Pleasant Cemetery is a Victorian garden cemetery and arboretum opened in 1876, spanning about 81 hectares. A National Historic Site, it holds more than 168,000 graves, among them Glenn Gould and Frederick Banting.

Roots Earth in short

Roots Earth has audio stories about 5,665 places in 130 cities, 25 countries and 6 regions, written by local people.

  • No account
  • Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection
  • Audio stories in English and German in every city, and in Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian in 126 of the 130 cities

Roots Earth for Android is available on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rootsearth.app.