Every time I go to a new city, the spirit of adventure and discovery has raised my energy level and I was already awake. For the time being, I read my guidebook and then woke up with a big thunderstorm raining down. So I got up and enjoyed the breakfast slowly. About 9:30 am, I settled down again to catch the city's expedition. The Old Montreal Ghost Tour has already given me an overview of the old historical center of Montreal on the last night and introduced me to an interesting character.
There is Place d & amp; Armes, one of Montreal's most famous plazas, 5 minutes from my hotel. The old part of the city was still quiet, and I enjoyed a walk on a peaceful cobblestone street. I entered one of Montreal 's tourist information agencies in the south corner of Rue Notre Dame and Place Jacques Cartier and stocked on the map and asked a variety of helping staff.
The old Montreal has a European atmosphere in the morning. In small cafes, shops and local residents can walk on foot. The calm and calm atmosphere is in sharp contrast to the usual enthusiastic hustle and bustle, familiar in large North American cities.
After a relaxing walk that allowed me to admire the architecture and the narrow streets and alleys, I found a place where my Old Montreal walking tour, provided by an authorized tour guide from Guidatour, starts at 11 am d & I returned it to Armes. The venue was just outside the Notre Dame Cathedral and the two tour leaders were already waiting. Our English speaking group was treated by Rui and the French speaking group was left to another guide, Bruno.
Eleven tourists gathered around Rui and in perfect English accents with his fascinating French, he began teaching about the history and architecture of Old Montreal and added subtle humor. The obvious tour originally started from the Notre Dame Cathedral, probably the most visited building in Montreal. Louis took us inside the basilica and found that the C $ 15 admission ticket on the walking tour actually covers $ 4 that Basilica will charge for entrance fee.
Notre Dame Cathedral is a magnificent Gothic reconstruction church ironically designed by Protestant-Irish American architect James O. Donnell, between 1824 and 1829 Designed a church in New York City built in. It features a resurrected appearance, dramatic interior of deep blue ceiling decorated in Notre Dame Cathedral. It is one of the most rare churches I have seen and its visual influence is wonderful.
Rui explained to us that at around $ 2000 you could marry at this church, but obviously there is a wait list for at least two years. Celebrities like Quebec singer Celine Dion and hockey's great Mario Lemieux got married here. Notre Dame Cathedral was also the funeral home of former Prime Minister Pierre Eliot Trudeau, the most famous Prime Minister in Canada. Rui then took us to the chapel next to the wedding chapel. Officially, it was "La Chapelle Notre - Dame du Sacré - Coeur" which was unfortunately damaged in the fire in 1978. Many of the woodworkers, however, the chapel is still an impressive space.
After the initial introduction to Montreal's architecture, we walked west of Notre Dame and saw Montréal's oldest building, Old Seminary School, or "VieuxSéminaire Saint-Sulpice". Built in 1683 by the custom of Sulpicia, this building was a manor whose convention was managing extensive land holdings. During the early history of Montreal, the citizens of the town were frequently attacked by Irokawa and the former seminar represented refugees in places where most of them were still wilderness. A characteristic public timepiece was established in 1701 and is one of the oldest time keeper throughout North America.
We then praised the arm of the "place" in front of the cathedral as it was a place for military maneuvers as well as for religious processes. d & # 39; Armes is a collection of truth about the architectural history. The New York insurance building built in 1888 was the first building to install a newly developed elevator when it became the best building throughout Montreal. Originally the 5-storey Hotel Place d & amp; Armes was actually three stories after the building was refurbished with elevator.
Aldred Building is a wonderful example of a skyscraper skyscraper architecture and it was the best building in Montreal for many years. Louis is quite adequately added to the design of the skysraper who puts foot back as a wedding cake architectural style. Place d & # 39; The center of Armes is monitored by statues of Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maissoneuve who founded Montreal in 1642.
At the north end of the Place Dam there is another architectural wonder of the Montreal Bank Building. Established as the first bank in Canada in 1817, Montreal Bank decided to build an impressive headquarters in 1847 and made a neoclassical exterior modeled behind Rome 's Pantheon. The interior was completely redesigned from 1904 to 1905 with a magnificent bank hall imitating the Roman cathedral by New York's famous architect McKim, Mead and White.
To the west of Saint Louis James Street (or behind St. Jacques Street), Rui explained that this was a Canadian business center in the 19th century. Many Canadian banks moved to downtown Montreal and had headquarters until they moved to Toronto later. Railway companies and shipping companies also have a headquarters, many of which were founded by immigrants in Scotland.
Le Saint Jacques' architectural style is impressive. Louis pointed out an example that was recently renovated and reborn as a very luxurious St. Louis. James Hotel. This trendy boutique hotel offers penthouse suites that can be rented for $ 5000 per night (low season) and is a favorite Hangouts celebrity. Just to mention one example, Madonna is St. . James was at the end of June lately during the suspension of her Montreal concert.
Another impressive architectural jewel that was the old headquarter of Royal Bank built in 1928 based on the design of New York's famous skyscraper expert York and Sawyer was seen. For a long time, this building was the largest in the British Empire. The design is influenced by the palace of Florence, and the impressive high ceiling of the big hall features eight coat weapons out of the ten Canadian provinces.
Unfortunately, the photos were not allowed in the buildings of the Montreal Bank and Royal Bank, but are amazing examples of architectural styles of different eras. Rui went through the narrow street of Old Montreal and headed to the city's waterfront and the birthplace of the city. As the major port town and shipping center, many buildings of Old Montreal were buildings of warehouses with large windows to accept many natural sunlight. This was to reduce the risk of fire at that time by artificial lighting and put the valuable cargo that these buildings kept at risk.
I kept asking Rui a lot of questions about the architectural and social history of Montreal. His knowledge of architecture was impressive, and in order to compare the architectural styles, in other cities such as New York City, Toronto, Boston, Chicago, I have referred to many famous buildings. He said that many historic buildings were dismantled in the 1960s as well as many other North American cities in Montreal, but fortunately the preservation movement of the building strengthened and today all the former Montreal It is protected.
The majority of Montreal has declined for decades after moving to downtown, but over the past 40 years Vieux Montréal experienced a resurgence that began at the main international event Expo 67. Louis, refurbished to a high-end condominium, told me that even a small studio apartment would probably get a price tag of at least $ 500,000. Old Montreal successfully moved from the former commercial district to vibrant tourism, entertainment and residential areas.
Near the waterfront we arrived at the Place d & # 39; Youville, an elongated public space located on the former river bank of Riviere Saint Pierre, which was canalized in the 1830's, was covered historically and drained completely . Montreal's historic center is the original fire station, a rare example of Quebec's Flemish school architecture.
The archaeological and historical museum in Pointe-à-Callière in Montreal is just a few steps to the east. It is very rare to know where a city was founded but the people of Montreal know exactly where the city first entered the narrow lands between St. Louis Lawrence and the Saint Pierre river . There the first settlers built Fort Ville-Marie using soil and wooden pillars. In fact, on May 17, 1642, Vyont father celebrated the creation of Montreal and gathered attendees from Sieur de Maisonneuve, Jeanne Mance, and other established colonists.
Today, the museum consists of six buildings, introducing the history of the city in the most innovative way. There are also archaeological bargains, and we are finding out more knowledge about the history of the city. Various festivals such as multicultural festivals and historic market weekend are also held at Pointe-à-Callière.
After that, our route returned us to Notre Dame Street. The former Palais de Justice, built between 1849 and 1856, is a representative example of Canadian neoclassicalism. There is Quebec Court of Appeal in this building today. The Ernst Cormier Building opened in 1926 was named after a famous architect who designed the main pavilion at the University of Montreal and the gate of the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
Our tour through Old Montreal ended in Old Montreal's most spacious and sloping public space, Jacques Cartier Square. In the restaurant with outdoor terrace, there are various wooden stalls that sell flowers, artworks, souvenirs on both sides of the square and the center. The northern end of the square is overlooked by the statue of Admiral Horatio Nelson which is surprisingly away from the harbor area of Montreal. This statue is a testimony of British influence merchants commemorating the British defeat of French and Spanish fleets in Trafalgar's battle.
The northeastern edge of Place Jacques Cartier opened in 1878 in the location of the city hall in Montreal, built in the 2nd imperial style. Fire occurred in 1922, the interior of the roof and the building was destroyed, the roof was rebuilt in 1926 Along the line of the city hall of France Tour. Today, the city hall of Montreal is still in this historic building.
Place Jacques-Cartier was a suitable place to end the Old Montreal tour. And I thanked everyone in the crowds for sharing his local insight and knowledge. By this time it was almost at 1 pm and my stomach taught me that it is time.Lunch at Cafédu Chateau.
