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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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Écomusée Du Fier Monde
This magnificent ex-bathhouse explores the history of Centre-Sud, a former industrial district in Montréal. The museum's permanent exhibition, Triumphs and Tragedies of a Working-Class Society, puts faces on the Industrial Revolution through a series of excellent photos and multi-media displays. The 1927 building is the former Bain Généreux, an Art Deco public bathhouse modeled on one in Paris. Frequent modern art exhibitions are also held here.
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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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Église St-Jean-Baptiste
Dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, the patron saint of French-Canadians, this church was the hub of working-class Catholic families in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Plateau residents weren't rich but they channeled large sums of money into the colorful interior, especially after two disastrous fires.
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Église St-Pierre-Apôtre
The Church of St Peter the Apostle belonged to the monastery of the Oblate fathers who settled in Montréal in the mid-19th century. The neoclassical church in the Village has fine decorations - flying buttresses, stained glass, statues in Italian marble - but the house of worship is more renowned for its gay-friendly Sunday services. It also houses the Chapel of Hope, the first chapel in the world consecrated to the memory of victims of AIDS.
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Église St-Viateur
If you are already on ave Laurier for the shopping and food, poke your head into this church, opened in 1910. The interior is pure Gothic Revival with ornate paintings, stained glass, hand-crafted cabinets and sculptures by renowned Montréal artists; the impressive ceiling vaults depict the life of St-Viateur. Funeral services for former prime minister Pierre Trudeau were held here in 2000.
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Fur Trade In Lachine National Historic Site
This old stone depot from 1803 is now an engaging little museum telling the story of the fur trade in Canada. Visitors can view the furs and old trapper's gear, and costumed interpreters show how the bales and canoes were schlepped by the native voyageurs , or trappers. The presentation is held throughout the day and kids love it.
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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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Grand Séminaire De Montréal
The seminary has a pretty Romanesque chapel, with hand-carved oak pews and walls covered with imported stone from Caen, France. Several shaded canals on the property are lovely for a stroll. Tours last about an hour and a half and the guides are excellent.
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Holocaust Memorial Centre
The Montréal Holocaust Memorial Centre provides a record of Jewish history and culture from pre-WWII Europe and holds seminars, exhibitions and other events. There's also a Jewish library open to the public. The museum is closed on Jewish holidays; call to confirm Friday hours between November and March.
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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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Jardin Botanique
Montréal's Jardin Botanique is the third-largest in the world after London's Kew Gardens and Berlin's Botanischer Garten. Its wealth of flowering plants is carefully managed to bloom in stages. The sprawling rosebeds in particular are a sight in summer. Climate-controlled greenhouses house cacti, banana trees and 700 species of orchid. Bird-watchers should bring their binoculars.
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La Ronde Amusement Park
Québec's largest amusement park, La Ronde has a battery of rides including the 'Monstre' big dipper - the second-largest in the world - a Ferris wheel and a gentle minirail that offers views of the river and city. The latest addition is the Vampire, a corkscrew roller coaster that races at speeds up to 80km/h.
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Labyrinth
Located in an old aircraft hangar, the winding corridors, obstacles and surprises of the Labyrinth are a kid's delight, in English or French. Themes change regularly. It takes about one hour to get through the maze; small children may be frightened.
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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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Les Cours Mont-Royal
This elegant shopping mall is a reincarnation of the Mount Royal Hotel (1922), at the time the largest hotel in the British Empire. The 1000-room hotel was converted into a snazzy mix of condos and fashion boutiques in 1988, with everything from the urban wear of Roots to top-end garments of Club Monaco, Giorgio and Harry Rosen.
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Lieu Historique de Sir George-Étienne-Cartier
The Sir George Étienne-Cartier National Historic Site consists of two historic houses owned by the Cartier family. Staff in period costume run guided tours throughout the day and hold dramatic presentations on etiquette and a servant's life. In season the program includes a Victorian Christmas.
Read more about Lieu Historique de Sir George-Étienne-Cartier
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Louis-Joseph Forget House
This Victorian mansion was built in the late 19th century for the first francophone chairman of the Montréal Stock Exchange. Forget was also a founding member of the Mont Royal Club and ran the Canadian Pacific Railway - much like George Stephen, an earlier CPR president who founded the Mt Stephen Club.
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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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Maison Fréchette
Louis Fréchette, a 19th-century poet, journalist and member of parliament, lived in this striking Second Empire residence just off rue St-Denis. The French actress (and one-time courtesan) Sarah Bernhardt stayed here during her North American tours in the 1890s.
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Maison Smith
Constructed in 1858 by a merchant who wanted to get away from the pollution and overpopulation of the rest of Montréal, this house was one of 16 private properties on the Mountain that were expropriated by the government in 1869 once the land was officially designated for a park. These days it's been spiffed up with a small exhibition on the history of the park, a visitors centre and a café selling soups and sandwiches.
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Maison St-Gabriel
This magnificent farmhouse is one of the finest examples of traditional Québec architecture. The house was bought in 1668 by Marguerite Bourgeoys to house a religious order. Young women, called the Filles du Roy , who were sent from Paris to Montréal to find husbands also stayed here. The 17th-century roof of the two-story building is of particular interest for its intricate beam work, one of the few of its kind in North America.
