In 1535 the Iroquoian village of Hochelaga was visited by French explorer Jacques Cartier, and approximately 100 years later Sieur de Maisonneuve founded the settlement of Ville-Marie. Today the Pointe-à-Callière Museum of Archaeology and History houses some remarkable architectural remains from the era in situ. Next to the magnificent neo-Gothic Notre-Dame Basilica stands Montréal’s oldest structure, the Saint-Sulpice Seminary, built in 1685. In addition to the acres of intact buildings from the French and British eras, Old Montréal has splendid examples of Art Deco architecture and some extravagant banks. The Montréal World Trade Centre and several boutique hotels have given new lives to many of the buildings.
The port was gateway to the thousands of immigrants who have made Montréal the scintillatingly multicultural and international city it has been for the last century. The Montréal flag depicts the four founding groups: French, English, Irish and Scottish. Today more than 80 ethnic groups have created fun and fascinating neighbourhoods such as Little Italy, Chinatown, Mile End (Greek) and many, many more.
The movers and shakers of 19th-century Montréal and Canada had built superb mansions in the Golden Square Mile, on the slopes of Mount Royal. At roughly the same time the very distinct double- and triple-tiered flats (or logements) with their separate entrances and famous outdoor wrought iron staircases were created. Countless churches were been built all over the city.
Famous modern structures of note are Moshe Safdie’s Habitat 67, Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome – now the Biosphère Environment Museum, Mies van der Rohe’s Westmount Square, and the cruciform Place Ville Marie tower by I.M. Pei. The original Montréal Métro stations, built in 1966, were each designed by a different architect, and from the 1976 Olympics came Roger Taillibert’s stadium with its sloping mast, the world’s tallest inclined tower.
In 2006, UNESCO designated Montréal as a City of Design. The city also ranks in the top ten cities in the world for its Art Deco architecture. Montréal has its own museum dedicated to the study and preservation of international architecture, the Canadian Centre for Architecture.
