Old Montreal

Profile

Old Montreal is the historic center of the city. This is where French pilgrims docked when they first arrived (the exact location is now a museum). Although not much remains of the original French colonial architecture (most buildings that stand today were built by the British in the 19th century), Old Montreal still encapsulates the spirit of a distinctly European settlement.

{Note: we are being somewhat liberal with our definition of Old Montreal - including in it, for example, two small neighboring areas: Cité Multimedia and Le Quartier International}.

Dining

While Le Plateau is Montreal's dining capital, Old Montreal probably comes in second - at least, in terms of upscale restaurants (in fact, casual dining options here are rather limited). As a tourist destination, it benefits from a steady stream of international visitors.

» See the list of selected Old Montreal Restaurants

Sights and Architecture

Rue St-Jacques (formerly Saint-James Street) was Canada's financial center for over a century. You can still admire old bank headquarters on the stretch of the street between Blvd St-Urbain and Rue McGill.

Built between 1824 and 1829 (the décor was finished in 1870), Basilique Notre-Dame was Montreal's answer to the revered Paris cathedral. Curiously, this quintessentially catholic church it was built by a protestant anglophone architect, James O’Donnell (who was Irish; eventually, he converted to Catholicism and was buried in the church after his death).

Articles, Updates and Reviews

A visiting Parisian recently made me laugh. Stretched on the grass next to the esplanade in the Old Port, she suddenly noticed Habitat 67's retro-futuristic assemblage across Canal Lachine.

"Et ça" - she said peering confusedly at the distant building - "Ce sont des logements sociaux?" ("And that... that's a housing project?"). I laughed because although nothing could be further from the truth (the internationally acclaimed building houses well-to-do Montrealers - one could even say, the city's elite) many people somehow make a similar mistake. They are put off by the building's stern look, uninviting color and absurd shape, and so they wrongly assume something of the sort can only be used to house the underclass. I am here to clear up the confusion and defend the merits of Habitat 67...

Read the rest of: "The Habitat"»

I am not a wine connoisseur, and completely hopeless when it comes to Hungarian wines, so I am not going to give you any advice to guide you through the wine list at Aszú. Heck, I didn't even try any Hungarian wines there! My mission for the night was much simpler: to have a decent terrace meal in the Old Port and enjoy a nice conversation with my dining partner who happened to be another SiteBits contributor...

Read the rest of: "Dinner at Aszú"»