Old Montreal
Old Montreal is a historic neighbourhood within the municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Founded by French settlers in 1642 as Fort Ville-Marie, Old Montreal is home to many structures dating back to the era of New France. The neighbourhood is bordered on the west by McGill Street, on the north by Ruelle des Fortifications, and on the east by rue Saint-André.
About Old Montreal in brief
Old Montreal is a historic neighbourhood within the municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Founded by French settlers in 1642 as Fort Ville-Marie, Old Montreal is home to many structures dating back to the era of New France. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is bordered on the west by McGill Street, on the north by Ruelle des Fortifications, and on the east by rue Saint-André. The neighbourhood has expanded to include the Rue des Soeurs Grises in the west, Saint Antoine Street in the north, and Saint Hubert Street in the east. In 1964, much of Old Montreal was declared a historic district by the Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec. The original fortifications of Montreal were erected in 1717 by Gaspard Chaussegros de Léry, to secure the settlement from a British invasion and to allow future expansion inside the walls. In 1721, Montreal received a royal order from France to ban wood construction; buildings were to be constructed using stone, but the ban was never fully respected. In April 1768, fire destroyed about 110 houses before destroying the old Hôtel de Callière General Hospital.
Between the two fires, nearly half of the buildings in the city were destroyed, including the Hotel Vaudreuil and the Congregation of Notre-Dame. In June 1803, a massive fire destroyed the prison, the church and the dependencies of the Jesuits, a church and a convent. The city was rebuilt even more densely in the following years, with the rest of the city divided into lots and seven lots of their own. The name ‘Montreal’ gradually replaced ‘Ville- Marie’ in the early 18th century, after the name of the trading post set up by Samuel de Champlain in 1605. The arrival in 1657 of Marguerite Bourgeoys and the arrival of Jesuits and Recollets in 1692, helped to ensure the Catholic character of the settlement. The Sulpicians organized seigneuries at the center of the island. In 1665, Louis XIV sent 1,200 men from the Régiment de Carignan-Salières to take control of the colony. The Seigneurs were given the island of Montreal and the obligation to live there and ensure its development by cultivating the land.
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This page is based on the article Old Montreal published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 01, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
