Montreal

On May 17, 1642, Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve, Jeanne Mance and about forty French settlers founded Ville-Marie at the point where a small river meets the St. Lawrence. The missionary settlement would grow into Montreal. The site is now home to the Pointe-à-Callière museum, and the Maisonneuve statue on Place d'Armes honors the city's founder.

On August 4, 1701, Governor Louis-Hector de Callière and delegates from about forty Indigenous nations signed a peace treaty in Montreal, ending nearly a century of conflict. The Wendat chief Kondiaronk, a key figure in the negotiations, had died a few days earlier. The Pointe-à-Callière museum, built near the site of the gathering, devotes an exhibition to this founding moment.

In November 1775, General Richard Montgomery's troops took Montreal without a fight during the American Revolution. The city stayed occupied until June 1776, when the American army withdrew as British reinforcements arrived. The Château Ramezay, built in 1705, served as the Americans' headquarters and still holds collections on this period today.

Erected in 1809 to honor Admiral Horatio Nelson, victor of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Nelson's Column is one of Montreal's oldest commemorative monuments. It even predates the one in London's Trafalgar Square. Standing at the north end of Place Jacques-Cartier, it reflects the weight of the British Empire in early nineteenth-century Montreal.

Designed by architect James O'Donnell, Notre-Dame church opened in 1829 after five years of construction. With its two Gothic Revival towers, it overlooks Place d'Armes and was then one of the largest religious buildings in North America. Its lavish interior, added later, makes it one of Montreal's most visited landmarks today.

After the 1837-1838 rebellions against British colonial rule, twelve Patriotes were hanged at the Pied-du-Courant prison between December 21, 1838 and February 15, 1839. Among them was the notary Chevalier de Lorimier. These executions left a deep mark on Quebec's collective memory. The nearby Patriotes monument pays tribute to them.

In 1847, fleeing the Great Famine, thousands of Irish emigrants arrived in Montreal, where a typhus epidemic killed about 6,000 people. In 1859, workers building the Victoria Bridge, many of them Irish, placed a huge black boulder over the mass graves. The Black Rock, in Pointe-Saint-Charles, remains Montreal's main monument to Irish memory.

From April 27 to October 29, 1967, Montreal hosted the World's Fair under the theme "Man and His World." More than 50 million visits in six months put the city on the international stage. Many remnants survive, including the Biosphere, the former U.S. pavilion designed by Buckminster Fuller, and Habitat 67, Moshe Safdie's residential complex.

From July 17 to August 1, 1976, Montreal hosted the Games of the XXI Olympiad. The Olympic Stadium, designed by architect Roger Taillibert, and its inclined tower are the most visible legacy. Construction was so costly that the Olympic debt was only paid off in 2006. Canada also became the first host country to win no gold medals.