Place-des-Arts station () is a

Montreal Metro The Montreal Metro (, ) is a rubber-tired underground rapid transit system serving Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The metro, operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), was inaugurated on October 14, 1966, during the tenure ...

station in the borough of Ville-Marie,

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec, Canada. It is operated by the

Société de transport de Montréal The Société de transport de Montréal (, STM; ) is a public transport agency that operates transit bus and rapid transit services in the urban agglomeration of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Established in 1861 as the "Montreal City Passenger Railwa ...

(STM) and serves the Green Line. The station opened on October 14, 1966, as part of the original network of the Metro. It is located in the Quartier des spectacles district, in east-central

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Overview

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms, ...

station built in

open cut Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially useful ore or ro ...

under boul. De Maisonneuve, with two ticket halls joined by corridors that surround and overlook the platforms. The eastern

mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft with non-sloped ...

includes

staircases Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...

with one-way exit-only turnstiles. The station is joined by

underground city An underground city is a series of linked subterranea (geography), subterranean spaces that may provide a defensive refuge; a place for living, working or shopping; a transit system; mausoleum, mausolea; wine or storage cellars; cisterns or dra ...

Place des Arts frame, View of the Place des Arts esplanade. The Musée d'art contemporain is on the left; behind it is the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, with the Théâtre Maisonneuve on the right. Place des Arts () is a major performing arts centre in Montreal, Q ...

and

Université du Québec à Montréal The (UQAM; ), is a French language, French-language public university, public research university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the system. UQAM was founded on April 9, 1969, by the government o ...

, and has additional four street-level exits. The station's walls are coved in light-grey bricks in a zig-zag layout. The station is equipped with the MétroVision information screens which displays news, commercials, and the time until the next train arrives. The station has 4 entrances: * 1555, rue Jeanne-Mance * 2020, rue de Bleury * 1990, rue de Bleury * 150,

rue Ontario Ontario Street (officially in ) is an east-west artery in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It crosses the boroughs of Ville-Marie, Montreal, Ville-Marie and Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. In the latter borough, the street becomes a mix of residenti ...

Architecture and art

The station features art by

Frédéric Back Frédéric Back (April 8, 1924 – December 24, 2013) was a Canadian artist and film director of short animated films.John L. Kennedy and Eugene Walz"Frédéric Back". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', November 4, 2007. During a long career with R ...

: a massive

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

mural entitled ''L'histoire de la musique à Montréal'' ("history of music in Montreal"). The work is composed of thousands of layered pieces of glass backlit by 105 lighting tubes and supported by a tonne of steel. The glass surface is rippled, causing the brilliant colours to shimmer ethereally. The work was originally intended to be an homage to four important Quebec musical artists: the composers

Calixa Lavallée Calixa Lavallée (; December 28, 1842 – January 21, 1891) was a Canadians, Canadian musician and Union Army band musician during the American Civil War. He was born in the Province of Canada. He is best known for composing the music for "O Can ...

Guillaume Couture Guillaume Couture (January 14, 1618 – April 4, 1701) was a citizen of New France. During his life he was a lay missionary with the Jesuits, a survivor of torture, a member of an Iroquois council, a translator, a diplomat, a militia captain, a ...

, Alexis Contant, and soprano Dame Emma Albani. Unveiled on December 20, 1967, this stained glass was the first work of art to be commissioned for the Metro system. In 2008 the lighting system was completely renovated by the lighting artist

Axel Morgenthaler Axel may refer to: People * Axel (name), all persons with the name Places * Axel, Netherlands, a town ** Capture of Axel, a battle at Axel in 1586 Arts, entertainment, media * ''Axel'', a 1988 short film by Nigel Wingrove * ''Axel'', a Cirque ...

. The second work of art is a hand-glazed ceramic mosaic by the artist Saskia Siebrand, installed in 2005. It contains tiles of over 300 colours, all custom hand-glazed. This architectural composition made of perforated aluminum panels was added to conceal a telecommunications room that had been added over the station's western tunnel opening. Before this work was added, the Montréal métro featured only one mosaic, the one by Gabriel Bastien and Andrea Vau at Sherbrooke station.

Accessibility

In March 2019, a real estate developer announced a new condo project on top of the De Bleury north entrance, and the entrance building was closed to the public. In the meantime, the STM also worked on improving the station's accessibility by installing three elevators from the street level to the platforms. The entrance building reopened on June 16, 2022 and the station became accessible on July 21, 2022.

Origin of the name

This station is named for the

cultural complex. Opened in 1963, this complex includes five concert halls, including the largest multipurpose concert hall in Canada, and an art museum.

Connecting bus routes

Nearby points of interest

Connected via the underground city

* UQAM (pavillons Président-Kennedy, Chimie, Biochimie, and Arts IV) *

Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (, MACM) is a contemporary art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Place des festivals in the Quartier des spectacles and is part of the Place des Arts complex. Founded in 1964, it ...

Complexe Desjardins Complexe Desjardins is a mixed-use office, hotel, and shopping mall complex located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the Quartier des spectacles area of Saint Catherine Street.Hydro-Québec Building The Hydro-Québec Building () in Montreal, Quebec, Canada stands at with 27 floors. Completed in 1962, it houses the headquarters for Hydro-Québec as well the Montreal offices of the Premier of Quebec. The building was designed by Gaston Gagni ...

* Place-d'Armes Metro station and points south

Other

* Quartier des Spectacles * Église du Gesù * Church of St. John the Evangelist * Cinéma Imperial

Film and television appearances

Scenes of the 2017

Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor and musician. The recipient of numerous accolades in a career on screen spanning four decades, he is known for his leading roles in action films, his amiable public imag ...

film '' John Wick: Chapter 2'' were filmed at the station. The station was redressed to stand in for a

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...

station.

References

External links

Place-des-Arts Metro - official site

Montreal by Metro, metrodemontreal.com
- photos, information, and trivia
2011 STM System Map

2011 Downtown System Map

{{Authority control Green Line (Montreal Metro) Railway stations in Canada opened in 1966 Quartier des spectacles Accessible Montreal Metro stations