, native_name_lang = , former_names = , alternate_names = Grand Lodge of Quebec
french: Grande loge du Québec , status = Operational , image = Masonic Memorial Temple, Montreal, Sep 06 2022.jpg , image_alt = View of the front facade of the Montreal Masonic Memorial Temple , caption = Montreal Masonic Memorial Temple , map_type = , map_alt = , map_caption = , altitude = , building_type = , architectural_style = Beaux-Arts , structural_system = , cost = , ren_cost = , client = , owner = Masonic Foundation of Quebec , current_tenants = Various Masonic Lodges, Julien-Leblanc Traiteur and Centre De La Petite Enfance Genesis 87 , landlord = Masonic Foundation of Quebec , location =

Downtown Montreal Downtown Montreal ( French: ''Centre-Ville de Montréal'') is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The district is situated on the southernmost slope of Mount Royal, and occupies the western portion of the borough of Vil ...

, address = 2295 St. Marc Street and 1805 Sherbrooke Street West , location_town = Montreal, Quebec , location_country = Canada , coordinates = , groundbreaking_date = , start_date = 1929 , completion_date = 1930 , completed_date = , opened_date = , inauguration_date = June 22, 1929 , renovation_date = , demolition_date = , destruction_date = , height = , diameter = , antenna_spire = , roof = , top_floor = 7 , other_dimensions = , floor_count = , floor_area = , seating_type = , seating_capacity = , elevator_count = 2 , main_contractor = , architect =

John Smith Archibald John Smith Archibald (December 14, 1872 – March 2, 1934) was a Canadian architect. Biography John Smith Archibald was born in Inverness, Scotland on December 14, 1872. He arrived in Montreal in 1893. He worked as chief architect in Edward Ma ...

, architecture_firm = , structural_engineer = , services_engineer = , civil_engineer = , other_designers = , quantity_surveyor = , awards = Royal Architectural Institute of Canada First Award, Class I, Monumental Buildings , designations = , ren_architect = , ren_firm = , ren_str_engineer = , ren_serv_engineer = , ren_civ_engineer = , ren_oth_designers = , ren_qty_surveyor = , ren_awards = , url = , embedded = , references = The Montreal Masonic Memorial Temple (french: Temple maçonnique de Montréal) is a historic

masonic temple A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history In ...

in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on the corner of Sherbrooke Street and St. Marc Street, in the Golden Square Mile district. Dedicated and officially opened June February 12, 1930, it was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2001, as an example of one of Canada’s most elegant buildings in the

Beaux-Arts style Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporat ...

History

The Masonic Memorial Temple was conceived as a meeting place for the Masonic order as well as a memorial to

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

who gave their lives during World War I, replacing a Masonic Temple that had existed in a mixed-use building on Dorchester Street since 1895. The order had renovations done in 1908 and began to raise funds for a new building in 1923. In 1928, they contracted architect

, who had previously renovated the Dorchester Street Temple, to design a new temple and supervise its construction. The ceremonial laying of the cornerstone took place on June 22, 1929, with thirty-six lodges and 2,000 Masons parading to the new temple from the Dorchester Street Temple. The Grand Lodge of Quebec met for the first time in the new temple on February 12, 1930, at its 60th Annual Communication, on February 12, 1930. The temple commemorates Masons who died in the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War.

Design

The façades on Sherbrooke and St-Marc streets and are covered with Queenston limestone. The main facade, on Sherbrooke, has a base made of rusticated limestone and features four openings as well as a prominent central entrance, flanked by two free-standing columns topped by terrestrial and celestial spheres. The main door is made of detailed architectural bronze. A decorative belt course defines the upper part of the base and consists of ornamental carving and words in relief: FIDES, VERITAS, CARITAS, LIBERTAS, SPES ("Faith", "Truth", "Charity", "Liberty", and "Hope" in Modern English). A December 1930 issue of ''Construction'', "A Journal for the architectural, engineering and contracting interests of Canada" featured an illustrated article, praised the Temple:

Neither our great Canadian classicists nor such well-known American practitioners as McKim, Mead and White have produced anything finer in Grecian adaptation than this Montreal building. As a work of architectural merit it ranks with Henry Bacon’s
Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in the ...
, John Russell Pope’s Temple of the Scottish Rite and McKim, Mead and White’s
J.P. Morgan JP may refer to: Arts and media * ''JP'' (album), 2001, by American singer Jesse Powell * ''Jp'' (magazine), an American Jeep magazine * ''Jönköpings-Posten'', a Swedish newspaper * Judas Priest, an English heavy metal band * ''Jurassic Park ...
Library. The modern Canadian buildings that are nearest to its class are
Cobb Cobb may refer to: People * Cobb (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Cobb * Cobb Rooney (1900–1973), American professional football running back Places New Zealand * Cobb River * Cobb Reservoir * Cobb Power ...
’s Toronto Registry Office and Lyle’s Bank of Nova Scotia, at Ottawa.

One year later, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada gave its First Award, Class I, Monumental Buildings, to the Montreal temple.

Conservation

On January 30, 2010, the Honourable

W. David Angus W. David Angus (born July 21, 1937) is a Canadian lawyer and former Canadian senator. Career Born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1937, Angus moved to Montreal with his family at the age of nine and has been based there ever since. Educated at Lower C ...

, Senator, has announced that the Government of Canada is delivering infrastructure funding of $425'000 to the Masonic Memorial Temple National Historic Site of Canada.

References

External links

*
Montreal Masonic Memorial Temple websiteGrand Lodge of Quebec website
{{NHSC Masonic buildings in Canada Buildings and structures in Montreal Masonic memorials Masonic buildings completed in 1930 Beaux-Arts architecture in Canada Landmarks in Montreal National Historic Sites in Quebec Downtown Montreal Heritage buildings of Quebec