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Bank of Montréal
Modeled after the Pantheon in Rome, the grand colonnaded edifice of Canada's oldest chartered bank, built in 1847, dominates the north side of Place D'Armes and is still a working bank. The imposing interior has 32 marble columns and a coffered 20m ceiling in Italian Renaissance style over a long row of tellers behind glass partitions. The helmeted marble lady is Patria, representing a minor Roman god of patriotism to honor the war dead.
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Basilique Notre-Dame
One of Montréal's most enduring symbols, the basilica occupies a site rich with three centuries of history. Besides religious services, the weddings and funerals of the city's well-known and well-heeled regularly take place here. Its most recent claim to fame was the baptism of Céline Dion's son in July 2001. Contrary to some tourist tales the basilica is not modeled on Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris.
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Bibliothèque et Archives Nationale du Québec
Opened in 2005, this stunning building houses both the library and national archives of Québec and has been a success beyond planners wildest dreams. Originally conceived as a place to receive between 5000 to 6000 people per day, the reality has been 10,000 to 12,000 Montrealers flocking through its doors each day. The library itself is 33,000 sq meters, connected to the métro and underground city.
Read more about Bibliothèque et Archives Nationale du Québec
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Chapelle Notre-Dame-De-Lourdes
Now tucked in among the university buildings, this Romanesque gem was built by the Sulpicians in 1876 to cement their influence in eastern Montréal. The chapel was designed by artist Napoléon Bourassa, who lived on rue St-Denis; his imaginative frescoes dotted about the interior are regarded as his crowning glory.
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Château Dufresne
Brothers Oscar and Marius Dufresne made their fortunes in shoes and cement manufacturing in the early 20th century. They commissioned this beautiful beaux-arts mansion, along the lines of the Versailles Palace in France, in 1916 and moved in with their families - Oscar on one side and Marius on the other.
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Cours Le Royer
Montréal's first ever hospital was founded here by Jeanne Mance in 1644. Later on, a huge commercial complex was built here, leaving several beautiful 19th-century warehouses behind. The buildings caught the eyes of developers in the 1970s and were converted into apartments and offices. Today, the buildings line this quiet pedestrian mall pocked with lush greenery.
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Drummond Medical Building
This university faculty building combines Art Deco with the 'Arts & Crafts' style that was popular in the 1920s. Check the branches, pine cones and flowers on the facade, and the lacy artwork in the lobby.
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Église Madonna della Difesa
Our Lady of Protection Church was built in 1919 according to the drawings of Florence-born Guido Nincheri (1885-1973), who spent the next two decades working on every last detail of the decor of the Roman-Byzantine structure. Most famous of all, the artist painted the church's remarkable frescoes, including one of Mussolini on horseback with a bevy of generals in the background.
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Gare Windsor
The massive Victorian building hugging the slope west of the Marriott Château Champlain is the old Windsor Station, opened in 1889 as the headquarters of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Romanesque structure inspired a château style for train stations across the country; its architect, Bruce Price, would later build the remarkable Château Frontenac in Québec City.
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Hôtel de Ville
Montréal's City Hall is a gorgeous building built between 1872 and 1878. Far from being a hum-drum administrative centre, it's actually steeped in local lore. Most famously, it's where French leader Charles de Gaulle took to the balcony in 1967 and yelled to the crowds outside 'Vive le Québec libre!' ('Long live a free Québec!'). Those four words fueled the fires of Québécois separatism and strained relations with Ottawa for years.
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Illuminated Crowd
Are you disturbed or compelled? That's more or less the conversation first-time visitors to Raymond Mason's 1986 statement on the human condition find themselves having. It's one of Montréal's most talked-about sculptures and arguably the most photographed piece of public art.
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Institut des Sourdes-Muettes
The little silver-plated cupola of the Deaf and Dumb Institute has reigned over the Plateau since 1900. An earlier building was built on clay, a problem typical to the area, and the soft ground gave way. The architects didn't take any chances the second time around and the newer version sits on 1700 stakes and a concrete slab two feet deep. The building still houses a private communications institute for deaf along with other offices.
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Le Château
This fortress-like apartment complex was designed by the famed Montréal architects George Ross and Robert MacDonald. The style would do Errol Flynn proud: Scottish and French Renaissance with stone battlements, demons and pavilion roofs. In the early 20th century these were some of Montréal's most elegant apartments. You can walk into the romantic courtyard for a closer look at the walls; fossilized shells are visible in the granite blocks.
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Maison Alcan
This mélange of four carefully restored 19th- and 20th-century buildings is not only an architectural wonder, but also the symbolic headquarters of the Alcan aluminum concern. It integrates the old Berkeley Hotel and four houses including the Atholstan House, a Québec historic monument. To the rear is an intriguing atrium with a pretty garden. Also on the property stands the Emmanuel Congregation Church, which belongs to the Salvation Army.
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Mont St-Louis
This charming greystone was converted to a Christian boys' school. The long, segmented facade is one of the best examples of French Second Empire style, with a mansard roof, arches and pavilions.
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Mt Stephen Club
The Mt Stephen Club, dating from 1880, was an exclusive businessmen's club named for the first president of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The 15 rooms of this Renaissance-style mansion have been completely renovated by a private foundation, and are rich with quality materials and skillful artistry, including a splendid mahogany staircase, marble mantelpieces and rather swanky furnishings.
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Oratoire St-Joseph
The gigantic oratory honors St Joseph, Canada's patron saint. The largest shrine ever built in honor of Jesus' father, this Renaissance-style building was completed in 1960 and commands wonderful views on the northern slope of Mont Royal. The oratory dome is visible from anywhere in this part of town.
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Palestre Nationale
The neobaroque National Palace (1916) was originally a sports center for local youth, drawing spirited crowds to amateur athletic events in the 1980s. Note the horn-of-plenty motif above the ornate portico. It now houses the university dance troupe Agora de la Danse.
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Place Du Canada
This park immediately southeast of Square Dorchester is best known for its monument of John A Macdonald, Canada's first prime minister, who addressed the maiden session of parliament in Montréal. It's guarded by four bronze British lions and seven bronze figures holding shields of the seven Canadian provinces of the time.
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Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle
Inaugurated in 2003, the heart of the square is a fountain and sculpture by Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923-2002) called La Joute (The Joust). Formerly at the Olympic stadium, the statue was moved here to anchor the new square. Summer nights are a big draw here as mists and a ring of fire erupts around the fountain, just as Riopelle had always wanted.
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Place Roy
Travelers in particular will identify with artist Michel Goulet's vision for this square. A giant stone map of the world sits in the centre, with water trickling alongside the continents, a symbol for getting out and exploring the world and what goes on in it. This is a wonderful place for pause in a quiet, sleepy corner of the Plateau.
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Place Sun-Yat-Sen
Dedicated to Sun Yat Sen, the ideological father of modern China, this small square was opened in 1988. The space was later refashioned by eight Shanghai craftsmen who used traditional methods and materials. The mural on the north and east walls is made of grey slate. On any given day here you'll find old timers sitting on stone stools together laughing and gossiping in Cantonese while a handful of Falun Gong demonstrators pass out literature nearby.
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Reid Wilson House
This is one of Montréal's finest old mansions, built in 1902 with an old coach house out back and an attached conservatory, rare features amongst the remaining Golden Square Mile homes. Architecture buffs will have a good time here picking out the Gothic, Italian and Romanesque Revival elements.
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Sailors' Memorial Clock Tower
At the east edge of the historic port stands the striking white Tour de l'Horloge. The clock commemorates the sailors and shipmen who died in the world wars. Normally the observation tower and history exhibit are open to the public, but renovations were underway to correct a slight lean in the tower.
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Seagram House
For almost seven decades this faux château served as headquarters for the world's largest distilling company - a child of the Prohibition era. Founder Samuel Bronfman ordered a design like a phony Tudor-Gothic castle and the result looks pretty funny today (note the scary imp over the entrance). When Seagram was sold to France's Vivendi in 2000 the building was donated to McGill University.
