Square/Plaza sights in Montréal
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Place-D’armes
This square is framed by some of the finest buildings in Old Montréal, including its oldest bank, first skyscraper and Basilique Notre-Dame. The square’s name references the bloody battles that took place here as religious settlers and First Nations tribes thrashed out control of what would become Montréal. At its center stands the Monument Maisonneuve, dedicated to city founder Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve. The red sandstone building on the east side of the square is the New York Life Insurance Building, Montréal’s first skyscraper (1888). It’s said to be built with the blocks used for ballast on ships bringing goods to Montréal. Next door, the Aldred…
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Place Jacques-Cartier
The liveliest spot in Old Montréal, this gently inclined square hums with performance artists, street musicians and the animated chatter from terrace restaurants linings its borders. A public market was set up here after a château burned down in 1803. At its top end stands the Colonne Nelson, a monument erected to Admiral Nelson after his defeat of Napoleon’s fleet at Trafalgar. The great likeness is now a fiberglass replica. Nelson’s presence is a thorn in the side of many French Quebecers, and there have been many attempts to have it removed (the last was by mayor Pierre Bourque in 1998). Francophones later installed a statue of an obscure French admiral, Jean Vauquel…
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Square Dorchester
This leafy expanse in the heart of downtown was known until 1988 as Dominion Square, a reminder of Canada’s founding in 1867. A Catholic cemetery was here until 1870 and bodies still lie beneath the grass. Events of all kinds have taken place here over the years – fashion shows, political rallies and royal visits. The square still exudes the might of the British Empire, with statues of Boer-War booster Lord Strathcona, Queen Victoria and poet Robert Burns, plus Wilfrid Laurier, Canada’s first francophone prime minister, who faces off a statue of John A Macdonald, the first anglophone prime minister, in Place du Canada across Blvd René-Lévesque. The city’s main t…
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Place du Canada
This park immediately southeast of Sq 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. The two cannons around the base were captured in the Crimean War; if you look closely you’ll see the dual-headed eagle of Czar Nicholas I. The statue was decapitated by vandals in 1992 and the head vanished for two years. The overpass across Blvd René-Lévesque leads to the Marriott Château Champlain Hotel, known as the ‘cheese grater’ for its windows shaped like half-moons.
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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 craftsmen from Shanghai who used traditional methods and materials. The mural on the north and east walls is made of grey slate. There’s a small concrete stage for performances and a pavilion from which souvenirs or knickknacks are sold. On any given day here you will find old-timers sitting on stone stools laughing and gossiping in Cantonese while a handful of Falun Gong demonstrators hand out their literature nearby.
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Place Royale
This little square in the west of Old Montréal marks the spot where the first fort, Ville-Marie, was erected. Defense was a key consideration due to lengthy fighting with the native Iroquois. In the 17th and 18th centuries this was a marketplace; it’s now the paved forecourt of the 1836 Old Customs House (Vieille Douane) and linked to the Musée d’Archéologie Pointe-à-Callière via an underground passage. The neoclassical building looks much the same today as when it was built, but now serves as the museum’s gift shop.
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Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle
The big draw of this square is the fountain that releases a ring of fire (and an ethereal mist) at certain times of year. The fountain and sculpture by Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923–2002), called La Joute (The Joust), was inaugurated here in 2003. During the day this area is filled with nearby office workers having lunch, but summer nights are a big draw as that’s when the pyrotechnics take place.
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Square Victoria
In the 19th century this was a Victorian garden in a swanky district of Second Empire homes and offices. Today, Sq Victoria is a triangle of manicured greenery and water jets in the midst of modern skyscrapers. The only vestige of the period is a statue of Queen Victoria (1872). The art-nouveau entrance railing to the metro station was a gift from the city of Paris for Expo ‘67.
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Place Roy
On a sleepy corner of the Plateau sits an intriguing installation by artist Michel Goulet. A giant stone map of the world sits in the center of the small square, with water trickling alongside the continents. Goulet finished off the piece by scattering several bronze chairs of different types across the pavement, each facing a different direction.
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Westmount Square
Westmount Square, designed by Bauhaus architect Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe, is a modern complex with office towers, terrace and shopping concourse that opened in 1967. It has a variety of boutiques, gift shops and art galleries, plus a food court.
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