Viger Square

Place Viger was both a grand hotel and railway station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, constructed in 1898 and named after Jacques Viger, the first Mayor of the city. Although combined stations and hotels were common in the United Kingdom in the late 19th century, Place Viger was the only such combination in Canada. Place Viger was designed by Bruce Price for the Canadian Pacific Railway, and was built near what was then the central core of Montreal, in proximity to the financial district, the city hall, the port and the court house. The mayor of Montreal, Raymond Préfontaine, strongly encouraged its construction in an area central to the French Canadian élites, in contrast to the rival Windsor Hotel to the west, which was perceived to cater to the city's anglophone classes. The rail station served as the terminus of the CP passenger rail lines running into downtown Montreal from the north and east. It replaced the older Dalhousie Station. Its counterpart terminus for CP passenger rail lines running into downtown Montreal from the south and west was Windsor Station. Constructed in the French château-style common to railway hotels built by Canadian Pacific, Place Viger housed the railway station in its lower levels and a luxurious hotel on the upper floors. Place Viger enjoyed an enviable setting adjacent to the gardens of Viger Square, allowing both railway travellers and hotel guests to stroll along the garden paths. The shifting of Montreal's commercial core to the north-west, and the onset of the economic depression of the 1930s, proved disastrous for Place Viger. The hotel closed in 1935. In 1951, the railway station was also closed, and the building was sold to the City of Montreal. The interiors were gutted and transformed into nondescript office space, and the building was renamed Édifice Jacques-Viger. The Viger Square gardens were destroyed in the 1970s to allow for the construction of the Autoroute Ville-Marie highway. After the highway was completed, although a new Viger Square was created on the concrete deck covering the highway, it was poorly designed, desolate and underused, despite sculptural works by artists including Charles Daudelin. For decades, the old Place Viger station sat isolated and neglected, a striking historic building surrounded by parking lots and concrete. In 2003, the Commission scolaire de Montréal, the City of Montreal and the Quebec provincial government announced that Place Viger would house a new École des métiers du tourisme (a school of tourism). In 2004, the Borough of Ville-Marie announced that it would restore what remains of the nearby public gardens, by replacing much of the concrete in Viger Square with trees, paths and other soft landscaping. Place Viger was sold in 2005 to a developer who intended to convert the building to apartments and a new hotel. However, the developer suffered financial difficulties and finally resold the property in 2012.In May 2014, the new owner, real estate developer Jesta along with partners, announced a $250 million mixed-use redevelopment plan for the complex, including residential and office space. In September of that same year, software provider Lightspeed announced that it would be moving its Montreal offices to the Viger complex. Lightspeed moved into the Viger castle in April 2015.

The Gilles Hocquart building is at 535 Viger Avenue East in the Quartier Latin of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This building was named in honor of Gilles Hocquart, fourteenth Intendant of New France who played an important role in safeguarding the documents concerning the French regime of New France. It is distinguished by its imposing presence in Viger Square, a prestigious setting for the French-speaking bourgeoisie in the early twentieth century,

Dalhousie Station (French: Gare Dalhousie) is a former railway station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Built in 1884, the building stands at the corner of Notre-Dame Street and Berri Street in what is now Old Montreal. The oldest surviving railway station building in Montreal, Dalhousie Station was named after George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie, who was Governor General of Canada from 1825 to 1828.Although the terminal location was originally purchased by the Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Occidental Railway, all construction was done by the Canadian Pacific Railway after it purchased the QMO&O in 1882. Dalhousie Station thus became the original eastern terminus for CP Rail.The station building has been the home of the Cirque Éloize since 2004.

The Citadel of Montreal was a former fortress used to defend the city. It was located at what is now rue Notre-Dame between rue Bonsecours and rue Berri. Smaller than the one in Old Quebec, the Citadel was built by the French in 1690 replacing the 1658 redoubt at Pointe-à-Callière. It consisted of a barrack structure surrounded by wood stakes palisade and located on a hill along the city's fortification wall. A cannon battery added in 1723. The fort was demolished by the British in 1821 to allow for the extension of Notre-Dame Street.

The Sir George-Étienne Cartier National Historic Site is a historic house museum in Old Montreal commemorating the life and accomplishments of Sir George-Étienne Cartier. This reconstitution of the adjoining homes of the Cartier family features the architectural heritage left by the upper middle class of 19th-century Montreal, along with interpretive activities and theatrical performances.It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1964.

Champ-de-Mars station is a Montreal Metro station in the borough of Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and serves the Orange Line. It is located in Old Montreal by the Champ de Mars park. It opened on October 14, 1966, as part of the original Metro network.

Montreal ( (listen) MUN-tree-AWL; officially Montréal, French: [mɔ̃ʁeal] (listen)) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as Ville-Marie, or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill around which the early city of Ville-Marie is built. The city is centred on the Island of Montreal, which obtained its name from the same origin as the city, and a few much smaller peripheral islands, the largest of which is Île Bizard. The city is situated 196 km (122 mi) east of the national capital Ottawa, and 258 km (160 mi) southwest of the provincial capital, Quebec City. As of 2021, the city had a population of 1,762,949, and a metropolitan population of 4,291,732, making it the second-largest city, and second-largest metropolitan area in Canada. French is the city's official language and in 2016 was the only home language of 53.7% of the population, while 18.2% spoke only English and 18.7% spoke neither French nor English at home. 9.4% spoke a mix of French, English and a foreign language at home. In the larger Montreal Census Metropolitan Area, 71.2% of the population spoke at least French at home, compared to 19.0% who spoke English. Still in 2016, 87.4% of the population of the city of Montreal considered themselves fluent in French while 91.4% could speak it in the metropolitan area. Montreal is one of the most bilingual cities in Quebec and Canada, with 57.4% of the population able to speak both English and French. Montreal is the second-largest primarily French-speaking city in the developed world, after Paris.Historically the commercial capital of Canada, Montreal was surpassed in population and in economic strength by Toronto in the 1970s. It remains an important centre of commerce, aerospace, transport, finance, pharmaceuticals, technology, design, education, art, culture, tourism, food, fashion, video game development, film, and world affairs. Montreal has the second-highest number of consulates in North America, serves as the location of the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization, and was named a UNESCO City of Design in 2006. In 2017, Montreal was ranked the 12th-most liveable city in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit in its annual Global Liveability Ranking, although it slipped to rank 40 in the 2021 index, primarily due to stress on the healthcare system from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is regularly ranked as a top ten city in the world to be a university student in the QS World University Rankings.Montreal has hosted multiple international conferences and events, including the 1967 International and Universal Exposition and the 1976 Summer Olympics. It is the only Canadian city to have held the Summer Olympics. In 2018, Montreal was ranked as a global city. The city hosts the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula One since 1978, as well as the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the largest jazz festival in the world, the Just for Laughs festival, the largest comedy festival in the world, and Les Francos de Montréal, which is the largest event devoted exclusively to French-language music anywhere in the world. It is also home to ice hockey team Montreal Canadiens, the franchise with the most Stanley Cup wins.

Opened on May 24, 1998, the Marguerite Bourgeoys Museum is located on the shores of the Saint Lawrence River in the historic centre of Old Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Exhibits focus on Marguerite Bourgeoys, Montreal's first teacher and founder of the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, who lived during the 17th century. Displays highlight her accomplishments that recall the great courage of the early colonists who built Montreal. In addition, visitors can tour the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, to which the museum is connected. This tri-centenary chapel of pilgrimage is Montreal’s first and oldest chapel of pilgrimage.

The Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel (chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, "Our Lady of Good Help") is a church in the district of Old Montreal in Montreal, Quebec. One of the oldest churches in Montreal, it was built in 1771 over the ruins of an earlier chapel. The church is located at 400 Saint Paul Street East at Bonsecours Street, just north of the Bonsecours Market in the borough of Ville-Marie (Champ-de-Mars metro station).

Champ de Mars is a public park in Old Montreal quarter of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Formerly a military parade ground, the park had previously been traversed by Montreal's fortifications, which were demolished at the beginning of the 19th century. The adjacent Montreal City Hall (1878) and the old courthouse (1856) were later built inside the line of the fortifications. Champ de Mars served as a municipal parking lot starting in the 1960s until being restored as a park in 1992. At that time, the foundations of Montreal's city walls were discovered and restored. The site's name commemorates its former military purpose; Mars was the Roman god of war and campus Martius was a Latin term for a military exercise ground. The walls now standing on site are the foundations of the original walls used to protect the city.The area is bordered by the Montreal City Hall, the old and new courthouses and the Champ-de-Mars Metro station.

The five-storey Montreal City Hall (French: Hôtel de Ville de Montréal) is the seat of local government in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was designed by architects Henri-Maurice Perrault and Alexander Cowper Hutchison, and built between 1872 and 1878 in the Second Empire style. It is located in Old Montreal, between Place Jacques-Cartier and the Champ de Mars, at 275 Notre-Dame Street East. The closest Metro station is Champ-de-Mars, on the Orange Line. As one of the best examples of the Second Empire style in Canada, and the first city hall to have been constructed in the country solely for municipal administration, it was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1984.

The Château Ramezay is a museum and historic building on Notre-Dame Street in Old Montreal, opposite Montreal City Hall in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Built in 1705 as the residence of then-governor of Montreal, Claude de Ramezay, the Château was the first building proclaimed as a historical monument in Quebec and is the province's oldest private history museum. It was designated a National Historic Sites of Canada in 1949.Over the years, the Château changed owners and functions several times, with Ramezay's descendants selling the manor to the fur-trading Compagnie des Indes.