Place Jacques-Cartier (English: Jacques Cartier square) is a square located in Old Montreal,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. It is an entrance to the Old Port of Montreal.

Overview

In 1723, the

Château Vaudreuil Château Vaudreuil was a stately residence and college in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was constructed between 1723 and 1726 for Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil, as his private residence by Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry. Though th ...

was built for

Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil (; c. 1643 – 10 October 1725) was a French military officer who served as Governor General of New France (now Canada and U.S. states of the Mississippi Valley) from 1703 to 1725, throughout Queen ...

- its formal gardens occupying the space that is now the square. The Chateau burned down in 1803 and it was suggested by The Hon.

Jean-Baptiste Durocher Jean-Baptiste Durocher (August 15, 1754 – July 8, 1811) was a businessman and political figure in Lower Canada. He was born Jean-Baptiste-Amable Desrocher in L'Assomption, New France in 1754, the son of Jean-Baptiste Desrocher and the grea ...

and The Hon.

Joseph Périnault Joseph Périnault (October 8, 1732 – January 31, 1814) was a fur trader, seigneur and political figure in Lower Canada. He was born in Montreal in 1732 and worked as a tailor there. With other Montreal merchants, he also invested in the fu ...

that the space be transformed into a public square, known as New Market Place. In 1809, Montreal's oldest public monument was raised there, Nelson's Column. In 1847, the square was renamed in honour of

Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier ( , also , , ; br, Jakez Karter; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French-Breton maritime explorer for France. Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of th ...

, the explorer who claimed

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1535. The broad, divided street slopes steeply downhill from

Montreal City Hall The five-story Montreal City Hall (French: ''Hôtel de Ville de Montréal'') is the seat of local government in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was designed by architects Henri-Maurice Perrault and Alexander Cowper Hutchison, and built between 1872 ...

and

rue Notre-Dame Notre-Dame Street (officially in french: Rue Notre-Dame) is a historic east-west street located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It runs parallel to the Saint Lawrence River, from Lachine to the eastern tip of the island in Pointe-aux-Trembles, ...

to the waterfront and

rue de la Commune Rue de la Commune ( en, De la Commune Street) is a road in Old Montreal which is well used both by Montrealers and by tourists, since it is the home of the Pointe-à-Callière Museum and the Old Port of Montreal. It also extends eastward into t ...

. During the high tourist season, the street hosts many street artists and

kiosk Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...

s. During the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

season, the street is lined with lighted trees. At any time of year, one can find restaurants on both sides of the street and many more on the surrounding streets of Vieux Port, notably on Rue Saint-Paul. It is a car-free zone in the summer.Spacing Montreal
/ref> During the summer season, ''

Jardin Nelson Jardin may refer to: Places *Jardin, Isère, a village in Isère, France *Le Jardin, a village in Corrèze, France * Jardin, Colombia, a town in Antioquia Family name *Alexandre Jardin (born 1965), French writer and film director *Frédéric Jard ...

'' offers a garden restaurant on Place Jacques-Cartier. Other restaurants similarly offer classical

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

ian-style "terraces" for taking a drink or dining in the open air. And on the other side of the place, the famous restaurant Saint-Amable (the oldest restaurant in town) welcomes Montreal celebrities and locals in a crooner jazz atmosphere. Place Jacques-Cartier 162

Near Place Jacques-Cartier on rue de la Commune, an original piece of the wall of the old fortified city can still be seen in the basement restaurant of the Auberge du Vieux-Port. At the upper end of the Place stands Nelson's Column, built in memory of

Admiral Horatio Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...

. The statue was removed in 1997 to preserve it from the weather, and was subsequently replaced with a copy.

References

External links

Official website including a live webcam of Place Jacques-Cartier
{{Streets in Montreal Busking venues Old Montreal Pedestrian malls in Canada Jacques-Cartier, Place

Overview

See also

References

External links