Explorations of Canada’s second largest city.
For years I had wanted to go to Quebec, especially Montreal. I spent two days, and I loved it.
Montreal is a neat mix of old and new. As the second largest city in Canada, Montreal has a bustling downtown of skyscrapers. However, Downtown sits just outside the wonderful Old Town, which is full of old-style Quebec architecture and cobbled streets (similar to Quebec City).
Montreal was founded all the way back in 1611 by famous French explorer Samuel de Champlain. At first it was a fur trading post and Catholic mission. Colonists showed up in 1642 to settle the area, naming their town Ville-Marie. Montreal took a long time to grow and wasn’t called a city until 1832. It became a major shipping hub, by rail and by sea. Until 1970, Montreal was the industrial and financial center of Canada, until it was bypassed by the rapidly expanding Toronto. Today, Montreal is a large city of 1.7 million residents.
Montreal is full of parks, museums and amazing architecture. I unfortunately only had two days in this splendid city. I will make it back again someday. Here is what I found:
My first stop in Montreal was the beyond amazing Notre-Dame Basilica. It is an elaborate Gothic Revival church in Old Town Montreal. The church was built between 1824 and 1843, with the interior only finished in 1879.
And this is why I wanted to visit. Look at all that awesomeness.
Since it was so dark in there, my camera would have needed a tripod to show what the church really looked like. I didn’t have a tripod or a good enough camera. So here is Diego Delso’s perfect photo.
As usual, I wandered around a bit and explored the city. I headed into Downtown first. There were not many older buildings in Downtown, but I did find this one.
Most of the older buildings in Downtown happened to be churches. Montreal’s population is divided by Francophones (French speakers) and Anglophones (English speakers). Each group has its own churches. This is the English speaking Catholic basilica, St. Patrick’s, favored by Irish Canadians. In the mid-19th century, a spot was picked on the edge of town. Today, it faces an odd direction, with the rear of the church facing the main road.
A lovely Gothic revival church.
Mary, Queen of the World is also a really interesting church. Built during the late-19th century, this church is unique because it is scaled model of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
It’s basically a very small, not as fancy St. Peter’s.
Heading back to Old Town, I started to find some architectural gems along the way. Such as this weird frieze like thing. I am not sure what is going on here.
There was also this cool old-fashioned bank.
Back in Old Town, this is the famous Place Jacques-Cartier, named after the French explorer who first came here.
The square is lined with restaurants with outdoor seating.
On the north side of the square, is Montreal’s City Hall.
On the south side of the square, you will find Montreal’s cobbled streets (or brick like is today). A world away from Downtown.
The dome on the left is the marketplace, Marchè Bónsecours. It’s full of people selling clothes. Not pretty at all on the inside.
A little past the previous pictures is a business area full of stores and restaurants.
Further afield, which I really didn’t get to explore much, is Square Saint-Louis. This is a university area with some really need townhouses, which are all spectacularly painted like this.
On the northern reaches of Montreal is the Parc du Mont Royal (Mount Royal Park). It is this small mountain that Montreal gets its name. The park sprawling and designed by my favorite landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted (he designed Central Park in New York City). It was a nice day, so I decided to wander around the park a bit.
The fall colors may have helped with that decision.
The view is amazing from the Chalet du Mont-Royal.
Check out my next update where I explore Route 66!
