Walking Tour: Vieux-Montréal

Start: Place d' Armes, opposite the Notre-Dame Basilica

Finish: Vieux-Port

Time: 2 to 3 hours

Best Times: Almost any day the weather is decent. Vieux-Montréal is lively and safe day or night. Note, however, that most of the museums in the area are closed on Monday. On warm weekends and holidays, Montréalers turn out in full force, enjoying the plazas, the 18th- and 19th-century architecture, and the ambience of the most picturesque part of their city.

Worst Times: Evenings, when museums and historic places are closed and rue St-Paul can get a little rowdy with barhoppers making their rounds.

Take the Métro to the Place d'Armes station (actually beside the newly expanded Palais des Congrès convention center) and follow the signs up the short hill 2 blocks to Vieux-Montréal (Old Montréal) and the place d'Armes. Turn right on rue St-Jacques. On your immediate right is the domed, colonnaded:

1. Banque de Montréal

Montréal's oldest bank building dates from 1847. Besides being impressively proportioned and lavishly appointed inside and out, it houses a small banking museum that illustrates its early operations (go in the front door, turn left, then left again). Admission is free. From 1901 to 1905, American architect Stanford White was in charge of extending the original building beyond Ruelle des Fortifications to what is now rue St-Antoine. In this enlarged space he created a vast chamber with high, green-marble columns topped with golden capitals. The public is welcome to stop in for a look.

Exiting the bank, cross the street to the:

2. Place d'Armes

The centerpiece of this square is a monument to city founder Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve (1612-76). It marks the spot where the settlers defeated Iroquois warriors in bloody hand-to-hand fighting, with de Maisonneuve himself locked in combat with the Iroquois chief. De Maisonneuve won and lived here another 23 years. The inscription on the monument reads: YOU ARE THE BUCKWHEAT SEED WHICH WILL GROW AND MULTIPLY AND SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. The sculptures at the base of the monument represent three prominent citizens of early Montréal: Charles Lemoyne (1626-85), a farmer; Jeanne Mance, the woman who founded the first hospital in Montréal; and Raphael-Lambert Closse, a soldier and the mayor of Ville-Marie. The fourth sculpture represents an Iroquois brave. Closse is depicted with his dog, Pilote, whose bark once warned the early settlers of an impending Iroquois attack.

Facing the Notre-Dame Basilica from the square, look over to the left. At the corner of St-Jacques is the:

3. Edifice New York Life

This red-stone Richardson Romanesque building, with a striking wrought-iron door and clock tower, is located at 511 place d'Armes. At all of eight stories, this was Montréal's first skyscraper back in 1888, and it was equipped with a technological marvel -- an elevator.

Next to it, on the right, stands the 23-story Art Deco:

4. Edifice Aldred

If the building looks somehow familiar, there's a reason: Built in 1931, it clearly resembles the Empire State Building in New York, also completed that year. The building's original tenant was Aldred and Co. Ltd., a New York-based multinational finance company with offices in New York, London, and Paris.

From the square, cross rue Notre-Dame, bearing right of the Basilica to the:

5. Vieux Séminaire de St-Sulpice

The city's oldest building, surrounded by equally ancient stone walls, this seminary was erected by the Sulpician priests who arrived in Ville-Marie in 1657, 15 years after the colony was founded. (The Sulpicians are part of an order founded in Paris by Jean-Jacques Olier in 1641.) The clock on the facade dates from 1701 and has gears made almost entirely of wood. Unfortunately, the seminary is not open to the public.

After a look through the iron gate, head east on rue Notre-Dame to the magnificent Gothic Revival:

6. Basilique Notre-Dame (1829)

This brilliantly crafted church was designed by James O'Donnell, a Protestant Irish architect living in New York. Transformed by his experience in building the basilica, he later converted to Roman Catholicism and is the only layman buried here. The main altar is made from a hand-carved linden tree. Behind the altar is the Chapel of the Sacred Heart (1982), a perennially popular choice for weddings. The chapel's altar, 32 bronze panels by Montréal artist Charles Daudelin, represents birth, life, and death. The church can seat 4,000 people, and its bell, one of the largest in North America, weighs 12 tons. There's a small museum beside the chapel.

Exiting the basilica, turn right (east) on rue Notre-Dame, crossing rue St-Sulpice. Walk 4 blocks, and then face left to see the:

7. Vieux Palais de Justice (Old Court House)

Most of this structure was built in 1856. The third floor and dome were added in 1891 (the difference between the original structure and the addition can be easily discerned with a close look). You can explore the Court House, although there are no organized tours. The city's civil cases were tried here until a new courthouse, the Palais de Justice, was built next door in 1978. Civic departments for the city of Montréal are housed here now. The statue beside the Old Court House, called Homage to Marguerite Bourgeoys (a teacher and nun), is by sculptor Jules LaSalle.

Next, on the right, is:

8. Place Vauquelin

This small public square, with a splashing fountain and a view of the Champ-de-Mars park (which lies behind and beneath the city hall), was created in 1858. The statue is of Jean Vauquelin, commander of the French fleet in New France. The statue stares across rue Notre-Dame at Vauquelin's counterpart, the English Admiral Nelson. The two statues are symbols of Montréal's duality.

On the opposite corner is a small but helpful:

9. Tourist information office

A bilingual staff is ready to answer questions and hand out many useful brochures and maps (only Thurs-Sun in winter). The famed Silver Dollar Saloon once stood on this site, though it has long since been torn down. The tavern was named for the 350 silver dollars embedded in its floor.

Around the corner, on the right, is a focus of activity in Vieux-Montréal, a magnet for both citizens and visitors year-round, the Place Jaques Cartier, which we will visit later in the tour. Rising on the other side of rue Notre-Dame, opposite the top of the square, is the impressive:

10. Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall)

Built between 1872 and 1878 in the florid French Second Empire style, the edifice houses the city's administrative offices. In 1922, it barely survived a disastrous fire. Only the exterior walls remained, and after substantial rebuilding and the addition of another floor, it reopened in 1926.

Take a minute to look inside at the generous use of Italian marble, the Art Deco lamps, and the bronze-and-glass chandelier. The sculptures at the entry are Woman with a Pail and The Sower, both by Alfred Laliberté.

Cross rue Notre-Dame once again. After passing the recently completed terraced park, with its orderly ranks of trees and a statue honoring the controversial long-time mayor of Montréal, Jean Drapeau, enter the circular drive to:

11.Château Ramezay

Built by Claude de Ramezay between 1705 and 1706 in the French Regime style of the period, this was the home of the city's French governors for 4 decades, starting with de Ramezay, before being taken over and used for the same purpose by the British.

In 1775 an army of American rebels invaded and held Montréal, using the house as their headquarters. Benjamin Franklin was sent to persuade Montréalers to join the American revolt against British rule. He stayed in the château but failed to sway Québec's leaders to join his cause.

The house has had other uses over the years. It was a courthouse, government office building, teachers' college, and headquarters for Laval University before becoming a museum in 1895. Inside are furnishings, tools, oil paintings, costumes, and other objects related to the economic and social activities of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century.

Continue in the same direction (east) along rue Notre-Dame to the corner of rue Bonsecours. Turn right. Near the bottom, at no. 401, on the left, is a house that offers a look at what life was like in Montréal in the late 18th century. This is:

12. La Maison Pierre du Calvet (Calvet House)

Built in the 18th century and restored between 1964 and 1966, this appears to be a modest dwelling. In the early days, though, such a house would have been inhabited by a fairly well-to-do family. Pierre du Calvet, believed to be the original owner, was a French Huguenot who supported the American Revolution. Calvet met with Benjamin Franklin here in 1775 and was imprisoned from 1780 to 1783 for supplying money to the Americans. The house, with a characteristic sloped roof meant to discourage snow buildup, and raised end walls that serve as firebreaks, is constructed of Montréal graystone. It is now part of an inn, with an entrance at no. 405.

The next street, rue St-Paul, is the oldest thoroughfare in Montréal, dating from 1672. Across the way is the small:

13. Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours Chapel (1673)

This chapel, called the Sailors' Church because so many seamen come to worship here, was founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys, a nun and teacher who was made a saint in 1982. Although recent excavations in the basement have unearthed foundations of her original 1675 church, the building has been much altered, and the present facade was built in the late 18th century. A museum (entrance on the left) tells the story of Bourgeoys' life and incorporates a newly opened archaeological site, with discoveries dated to 400 B.C. Historically, sailors saved at sea have made pilgrimages to the church to give thanks. Climb up to the tower for a view of the port and the Old Town.

Just beyond the Sailor's Church, heading west down rue St-Paul, is an imposing building with a colonnaded facade and silvery dome, the limestone:

14. Marché Bonsecours (Bonsecours Market)

Completed in 1847, this building was briefly used, in order, as the Parliament of United Canada, the City Hall, the central market, a music recital hall, and the home of the municipality's housing and planning offices. The building was restored in 1992 to serve as a center for temporary exhibitions and musical performances during the city's 350th-birthday celebration. It continues to be used for temporary exhibitions, but it is also more of a retail center now, with stalls and shops inside and sidewalk cafes near the entrance.

When the Bonsecours Market was first built, the dome could be seen from everywhere in the city. The Doric columns of the portico were cast of iron in England, and the prominent dome has long served as a landmark for seafarers sailing into the harbor.

Continue down rue St-Paul. At no. 281 is the former:

15.Hôtel Rasco

An Italian, Francisco Rasco, came to Canada to manage a hotel for the Molson family and later became successful with this, his own hotel. The 150-room Rasco was the Ritz of its day in Montréal, hosting, among other honored guests, Charles Dickens and his wife in 1842, when the author was directing some of his plays at the theater that used to stand across the street. The hotel lives on in legend if not in fact, as it's devoid of much of its original architectural detail. Rasco left in 1844, and the hotel slipped into decline. Between 1960 and 1981 it stood empty, but the city took it over and restored it in 1982. It contained a restaurant on the ground floor, now departed, and city officials can't seem to decide what to do with the rest of the building.

Continue heading west on rue St-Paul, turning right when you hit:

16. Place Jacques-Cartier

Opened as a marketplace in 1804, this is the most appealing of the Old Town's squares, despite its obviously touristy aspects. Its cobbled cross-streets, gentle downhill slope, and ancient buildings set the mood, while outdoor cafes, street entertainers, itinerant artists, and fruit and flower vendors invite lingering, at least in warm weather. Calèches (horse-drawn carriages) depart from both the lower and upper ends of the square for tours of Vieux-Montréal.

Walk slowly uphill, taking in the old buildings that bracket the plaza. Plaques in French and English describe some of them: the Vandelac House (no. 433), the del Vecchio House (nos. 404-410), and the Cartier House (no. 407). All these houses were well suited to the rigors of life in the raw young settlement. Their steeply pitched roofs shed the heavy winter snows rather than collapsing under the burden, and small windows with double casements let in light while keeping out wintry breezes. When shuttered, the windows were almost as effective as the heavy stone walls in deflecting hostile arrows or the antics of trappers fresh from raucous evenings in nearby taverns.

At the upper (northern) end of the plaza stands a monument to Horatio Nelson, hero of Trafalgar, erected in 1809. This monument preceded the much larger version in London by several years. However, after years of being subjected to vandalism, presumably by Québec separatists, the original statue was temporarily replaced to permit restoration. The first Nelson once again occupies the crown of the column.

Take a Break

Most of the old buildings in and around the inclined plaza harbor restaurants and cafes. For a drink or snack, try to find a seat in Le Jardin Nelson (no. 407), at the southeast corner, near the bottom of the hill. Sit in the courtyard in back when the weather is good -- there often is live music -- or on the terrace overlooking the activity of the square.

At the top of the plaza, turn left and descend on the other side back down to rue St-Paul. Turn right. The next few short blocks are given to art galleries and loud souvenir shops, but at 150 rue St-Paul is the neoclassical:

17. Vieille Douane (Old Customs House)

Erected from 1836 to 1838, the building was doubled in size to its present proportions when an extension to the south was added in 1882; walk around to the other side of the building for a look at the extension. That end of the building faces place Royale, the first public square in the early settlement of Ville-Marie. Europeans and Amerindians used to come here to trade.

Continue down rue St-Paul to rue St-François-Xavier. Turn right on a short detour up rue St-François-Xavier. At rue de l'Hôpital, to the right, is the stately:

18. Centaur Theater

The home of Montréal's principal English-language theater is a former stock-exchange building. The Beaux Arts architecture is interesting in that the two entrances are on either side rather than in the center of the facade. American architect George Post, who was also responsible for the New York Stock Exchange, designed the building, erected in 1903. It served in its original function until 1965, when it was redesigned as a theater with two stages.

Return back down rue St-François-Xavier, crossing St-Paul. Up ahead, the dramatic wedge-shaped building is the:

19. Pointe-à-Callière

Housing the Museum of Archaeology and History, with artifacts unearthed here during more than 10 years of excavation, this site was where Ville-Marie (Montréal) was founded in 1642. The museum also incorporates, via an underground connection, the Old Customs House you just passed.

A fort stood on this spot in 1645. Thirty years later, this same spot became home to the château of a monsieur de Callière, from whom the building and triangular square take their names. At that time, the St. Pierre River separated this piece of land from the mainland. It was made a canal in the 19th century and later filled in.

Take a Break

One possibility for lunch or an afternoon pick-me-up is the casual, second-floor L'Arrivage Café at the museum. Another is the moderately priced Stash, 200 rue St-Paul ouest at rue St-François-Xavier, which specializes in Polish fare and is open from 11am until late in the evening.

Proceeding west from Pointe-à-Callière, near rue St-François-Xavier, stands an:

20. Obelisk

It commemorates the founding of Ville-Marie on May 18, 1642. The obelisk was erected here in 1893 by the Montréal Historical Society and bears the names of the city's early pioneers, including de Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance.

Continuing west from the obelisk 2 blocks, look for the:

21. Ecuries d'Youville (Youville Stables)

It's on the left at 296-316 place d'Youville. Despite the name, the rooms in the iron-gated compound, built in 1825 on land owned by the Gray Nuns, were used mainly as warehouses, rather than as horse stables. Like much of the waterfront area, the U-shaped Youville building (the actual stables, next door, were made of wood and disappeared long ago) was run-down and forgotten until the 1960s, when a group of enterprising businesspeople decided to buy and renovate the property. Today the compound contains offices and a popular restaurant, Gibby's. Go through the passage to the right of the restaurant for a look at the inner courtyard if the gates are open, as they usually are.

Continue another block west to 335 rue St-Pierre and the:

22.Centre d'Histoire de Montréal (Montréal History Center)

Built in 1903 as Montréal's central fire station, this building now houses exhibits, including many audiovisual ones, about the city's past and present. Visitors will learn about the early routes of exploration, the fur trade, architecture, public squares, the railroad, and life in Montréal from 1920 to 1950.

Less than a block away, on the left at 138 rue St-Pierre, pass the former:

23. Hôpital des Soeurs Grises (Gray Nuns Hospital)

The hospital was in operation from 1693 to 1851 and served as a novitiate for future nuns. The order, founded by Marguerite d'Youville in 1737, is officially known as the Sisters of Charity of Montréal. The present building incorporates several additions and was part of the city's General Hospital, run by the Charon Brothers but administered by d'Youville, who died here in 1771. The wing in which she died was restored in 1980. The wall of the original chapel remains. Visits inside must be arranged in advance. Call tel. 514/842-9411 to schedule a visit.

From here, walk down rue St-Pierre to the brown awning at no. 118, which marks the entrance to the:

24. Musée Marc-Aurèle Fortin

This museum is devoted to Canadian artist Fortin, who died in 1972. He was known for his watercolors of the Québec countryside, including Charlevoix and the Laurentian Mountains. His depictions of Dutch elms give a glimpse of the time when these giant trees lined rues Sherbrooke and St-Joseph in Montréal, before blight decimated them.

Continue past the museum and cross rue de la Commune and the railroad tracks to enter the:

25.Vieux-Port (Old Port)

Montréal's historic commercial wharves have been reborn as a waterfront park frequented by cyclists, in-line skaters, joggers, walkers, strollers, lovers, and picnickers, in good weather. This is the entry to Parc des Ecluses (Locks Park), where the first locks on the St. Lawrence River are located.

From there, walk back north along rue McGill to reach Square Victoria and its Métro station. Or pick up the beginning of the path along the Lachine Canal at Parc des Ecluses and follow it for an hour or less to arrive at Montréal's colorful indoor/outdoor Atwater Market.