Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec

Montréal

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Opened in 2005, this stunning building houses both the library and national archives of Québec. Everything published in Québec (books, brochures, sound recordings, posters) since 1968 has been deposited here. Visit for changing exhibitions, film screenings, performances (poetry, jazz), workshops or some peace (and free wi-fi) among glass and high ceilings. There is also a gift store and a kids reading area.

The library's footprint is 33,000 sq meters, connected to the metro and underground city.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • October 18, 2017: Visitors seated on the grass around a lake in Mont Royal Park during autumn.

    Parc du Mont-Royal

    1.47 MILES

    The charming, leafy expanse of Parc du Mont-Royal is charged for a wide range of outdoor activities. The wooded slopes and grassy meadows have stunning…

  • Montreal, Quebec, Canada - 18 May 2017: Sherbrooke Street West with the Facade of the Montreal Museum of Fine Art. 688955530 fine, arts, culture, exterior, classical, column, sightseeing, outdoor, view, building, construction, scene, american, famous, place, historical, heritage, architectural, chagall, totem

    Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal

    1.42 MILES

    Montréal’s Museum of Fine Arts is an accessible and beautifully updated oasis of art housed in architecturally striking buildings. A visit here is a must…

  • Notre Dame Basilica (Montreal, Canada).

    Basilique Notre-Dame

    0.77 MILES

    Montréal's famous landmark, Notre Dame Basilica, is a 19th-century Gothic Revival masterpiece with spectacular craftsmanship – a visually pleasing, if…

  • May 28, 2017: St Joseph's Oratory on Mont Royal with a woman praying on steps.

    Oratoire St-Joseph

    3.1 MILES

    The stunning Oratoire St-Joseph church built on the flanks of Mont-Royal commands grand views of the the Côte-des-Neiges area and northwest Montréal. The…

  • 1197761248

    Jardin Botanique

    3.03 MILES

    Montréal’s Jardin Botanique is the third-largest botanical garden in the world, after London’s Kew Gardens and Berlin’s Botanischer Garten.

  • Montreal, Canada. July 31, 2019 . Exterior of the basilica of Notre Dame in Quebec. Sunny day. 1219240147

    Place d'Armes

    0.74 MILES

    This open square is framed by some of the finest buildings in Old Montréal, including its oldest bank, first skyscraper and Basilique Notre-Dame. The…

  • The Old Port of Montreal on a sunny day. 613324236 Skyscraper, Photography, Vieux, City, River, Old Port, Canada, Horizontal, Crowd of People, Summer Solstice, Outdoors, Capital Cities, Monument, Crowded, Summer, Montreal, Street, Cityscape, City Street, People, Quebec, Pedestrian, Downtown District, 100326, 60595

    Old Port

    0.72 MILES

    Montréal's Old Port has morphed into a park and fun zone paralleling the mighty St Lawrence River for 2.5km and punctuated by four grand quais (quays)…

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Nearby Montréal attractions

1. Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes

0.12 MILES

Now hidden among the university buildings, this Romanesque gem was built by the Sulpicians in 1876 to cement their influence in Montréal. The chapel was…

2. Université du Québec à Montréal

0.13 MILES

The modern, rather drab buildings of Montréal’s French-language university blend into the cityscape and are linked to the underground city and the Berri…

3. Rue St-Denis

0.16 MILES

The backbone of Montréal’s francophone shopping district, Rue St-Denis is lined with hat and garment shops, uberhip record stores and terrace cafes…

4. Galerie Blanc

0.31 MILES

Sun, snow and lack of sobriety are no barrier at this free open-air art gallery smack in the middle of the Village's bar street. The often-abstract works…

5. Écomusée du Fier Monde

0.39 MILES

This striking ex-bathhouse explores the history of Centre-Sud, an industrial district in Montréal until the 1950s and now part of the Village. The museum…

6. Carré St-Louis

0.41 MILES

This lovely green square with a three-tiered fountain is flanked by beautiful rows of Second Empire homes. In the 19th century a reservoir here was filled…

7. Rue Ste-Catherine Est

0.45 MILES

Montréal’s embrace of the gay community is tightest along the eastern end of Rue Ste-Catherine, a one-time bed of vice and shabby tenements. This strip of…

8. Église St-Pierre-Apôtre

0.48 MILES

Located in the Village, this neoclassical church from 1853 has a number of fine decorations – flying buttresses, stained glass, statues in Italian marble …