Rue Saint-Paul (''Saint Paul Street'') is a street in the

Old Montreal Old Montreal (French: ''Vieux-Montréal'') is a historic neighbourhood within the municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is bordered on the west by McGill Street, on th ...

historic area of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

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 ...

. The street was laid out by

François Dollier de Casson François Dollier de Casson (1636 – 27 September 1701) was born in France into a wealthy bourgeois and military family. He began his adult life in the army which he left after three years to continue his studies and become a priest. After beco ...

, along the route of a path that had bordered a former fort. Saint Paul is Montreal's oldest street and for many years served as its main thoroughfare. Paved in 1672, it was named after

Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve (15 February 1612 9 September 1676) was a French military officer and the founder of Fort Ville-Marie (modern day Montreal) in New France (Province of Quebec, Canada). Early life Maisonneuve was born in ...

, founder of Montreal, who built a home for himself on it in 1650. The street is home to such landmarks as the

Bonsecours Market Bonsecours Market (french: Marché Bonsecours), at 350 rue Saint-Paul in Old Montreal, is a two-story domed public market. For more than 100 years, it was the main public market in the Montreal area. It also briefly accommodated the Parliament of ...

and

Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel The Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel (''chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours'', "Our Lady of Good Help") is a church in the district of Old Montreal in Montreal, Quebec. One of the oldest churches in Montreal, it was built in 1771 over the ruins of ...

. Much of Saint Paul is still paved with

cobblestones Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fr ...

. Plans to pedestrianize the street in 2008 were dropped by the City of Montreal after complaints from merchants.

References

External links

Rue Saint-Paul (in French)
History of Montreal Landmarks in Montreal Old Montreal Streets in Montreal Cobbled streets {{Quebec-road-stub