City Tour: Old Montreal @ nationalgeographic.com

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Hôtel de Ville

Notre-Dame Basilica, in Old Montreal, opened in 1829.

Photograph © Kelly-Mooney Photography/Corbis

But the square is far from being just a tourist trap. Half the city turns out here on summer days, overflowing across Rue de la Commune to the generous spaces of the the Vieux-Port. Before you join them, make sure you have had a good look at some of the fine old buildings lining the square, like No. 410, the restored Maison Viger at the corner of Saint-Amable, or No. 404, the Maison del Vecchio, also from the early years of the 19th century.
Nearby is the Hôtel de Ville. Dating from 1878, this monumental city hall in Second Empire style was faithfully rebuilt after burning down in 1922. The focus of Montreal’s often convoluted city politics, it enjoyed a moment of international glory in 1967 when visiting President of France Charles de Gaulle cried "Vive le Québec libre!" from its balcony to the huge crowd assembled below. Apparently surprised at their ecstatic reaction, De Gaulle turned to his host, Quebec premier Daniel Johnson, for an explanation. "You’ve just repeated the slogan of my opponents at the last election!" was the mortified reply.

Château Ramezay
(280 Rue Notre-Dame Est, Tel +1 514 861 3708. Closed Mon. Oct.-May; Adm. fee, Metro: Champ-de-Mars) is one of the oldest and most evocative buildings in North America. This long, low, farmhouse-like structure in gray fieldstone has had an illustrious history. Completed in 1705 as the home of Claude de Ramezay, the 11th governor of Montreal, it was successively the headquarters of the Compagnie des Indes, the great fur-trading company, then the residence of the British governor-general. Benjamin Franklin lodged here during the 1775 American occupation of Montreal, but failed in his mission to persuade the citizens to sign up as the 14th state. The château has been a museum for over a century. Among its exhibits on domestic and First Nations themes is superb early 18th-century paneling from France.

Lieu Historique Sir George Étienne-Cartier
A more recent chapter in Canadian history is preserved at Lieu Historique Sir George Étienne-Cartier (458 Rue Notre-Dame Est, Tel +1 514 283 2282. Adm. fee, Metro: Champ-de-Mars). Revered as a Father of Confederation by federalists, denounced as a stooge and collaborator by Quebec nationalists, Sir George Étienne-Cartier (1814-1873) attracts controversy long after his death. The point of this charming museum, set out in the adjacent houses where he lived and worked, is not politics so much as the comfortable upper-middle-class life led in Montreal in the mid-19th century, with a wealth of period furniture and other artifacts.

Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours
(400 Rue Saint-Paul Est, Tel +1 514 845 9991. Restricted hours in winter, Museum; Adm. fee, Metro: Champ-de-Mars) is also known as the Sailors’ Church. This delightful 18th-century chapel is topped by a tall copper statue of the Virgin Mary, her arms outstretched to all those who sail on the St. Lawrence. Grateful seafarers donated the ship models displayed inside. The building is a successor to the wooden chapel built in 1657 on the initiative of Marguerite Bourgeoys. Canonized in 1982, this indomitable lady from Troyes in France made her mark on Ville-Marie in all sorts of ways, not only founding an order of nuns, but establishing schools for both French and local girls and, most famously, shipping in young women (Les filles du Roy) as wives for bachelor colonists.

The Old Port
Summer is the time to enjoy the exciting new park laid out on the docksides of the Vieux-Port, when thousands of city dwellers congregate to stroll, cycle, Roller-blade, lounge around, see and be seen, and enjoy the cooling breezes. The breezes are a bit too cool in the winter, but hardy souls can still be seen skating and sliding. There is open-air entertainment, an IMAX cinema, a spectacular modern maze called SOS Labyrinthe, and the Magic and Illusion Houdini Theatre. Of the various boat trips offered, the most exciting dares passengers to brave a soaking on the famous Lachine Rapids (Tel +1 514 284 9607).

Pointe-à-Callière
All levels of Montreal’s history come together in the fascinating complex of buildings known collectively as the Musée d’Archéologie et d’Histoire de Montréal (350 Place Royale, Tel +1 514 872 9150. Closed Sat.-Mon.; Adm. fee, Metro: Place-d’Armes) where there is an intriguing underground display of archaeological excavations. The area known as Pointe-à-Callière is the very birthplace of the city, the spot at which Champlain landed in 1611 and where Maisonneuve and his party of settlers landed in 1642. This, and much more, is entertainingly brought to life in a witty audiovisual show which painlessly combines English and French and in the space of a few minutes tells you most of what you need to know about Montreal’s three-and-a-half centuries of existence. From here, you go beneath the surface to an atmospheric crypt, with evocative remains of walls, water conduits, sewers, even a cemetery. Back up on ground level, you find yourself inside the dignified old Customs House overlooking Place Royale, site of Maisonneuve’s first residence.
To complete the history lesson begun at Pointe-à-Callière, come inside the splendidly ornate old fire station that now houses the Centre d’Histoire de Montréal (335 Place d’Youville, Tel +1 514 872 3207. Closed Dec.; Adm. fee, Metro: Place-d’Armes). Full of displays on all aspects of Montreal’s past, its 11 rooms evoke the texture of urban life as you ride a trolley, climb up one of the city’s famous outside staircases, or eavesdrop in a 1940s living room.

The Basilique Notre-Dame
(110 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Tel +1 514 842 2925. Museum; Adm. fee, Metro: Place-d’Armes) is one of the outstanding architectural achievements in a city that has more than its share of lovely buildings. In 1824 the Sulpician seigneurs who ruled Montreal ordered the building of a great church that would accommodate all the faithful of the parish (which covered the whole city). Their chosen architect was an Irish-American Protestant named James O’Donnell, who was so moved by the magnificence of his achievement that he converted to Catholicism and was eventually buried here. For half a century, the twin-towered, Gothic Revival basilica was the biggest church in North America, and it remains a Montreal landmark despite the proliferation of skyscrapers. Its interior is of the utmost sumptuousness, a fusion of richly detailed carving, stained glass, and subtly controlled natural and artificial lighting. The gilt of woodwork and the mystic blue of vaults and altarpiece create an atmosphere of great serenity. The high pulpit is a masterpiece, carved by the sculptor Louis-Philippe Hébert. The windows, from Limoges in France, tell the tale of early Montreal.
The basilica is flanked by Montreal’s oldest building, the Vieux Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice, erected by the Sulpician Order in 1685. The seminary is still in use by the order and is not open to the public. Behind its courtyard wall the symmetrical freestone building breathes the spirit of 17th-century New France. Its elegant clock is reputed to be the oldest of its kind in North America.