Square Dorchester

Lonely Planet review

This leafy expanse in the heart of downtown offers many visitors their first impression of Montréal - the main tourist office, Centre Infotouriste , is located on the northwest side where many tour buses line up. Known until 1988 as Dominion Square, a reminder of Canada's founding in 1867, it was the site of a Catholic cemetery until 1870 and bodies still lie beneath the grass.

Events of all kinds have taken place here over the years - fashion shows, political demonstrations and royal visits. In 1995 it was the site of a huge national rally for Canadian unity during the referendum on Québec sovereignty.

The square still exudes the might of the British Empire. The most striking statue in the square is of Lord Strathcona, a philanthropist who sponsored a Canadian regiment that fought in the Boer War (1899-1901). Other monuments in the park include likenesses of Queen Victoria, poet Robert Burns and Wilfrid Laurier, Canada's first francophone prime minister. Laurier faces a statue of John A Macdonald, the first anglophone prime minister, in Place du Canada across boul René-Lévesque.