Place Émilie-Gamelin (known informally as Berri Square, ) is a

city square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Rel ...

in central

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Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. It was created to mark the 350th anniversary of the city. Bordered by Berri Street,

Saint Hubert Street St. Hubert Street (officially in ) is a north–south street that spans the island of Montreal The Island of Montreal (, ) is an island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, which is the site of a number of municipalities, including most of the c ...

, Sainte Catherine Street, and

De Maisonneuve Boulevard De Maisonneuve Boulevard (officially in ) is a major westbound boulevard located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is named after the founder of Montreal, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve. It is a one-way street westbound. De Maisonneuve ...

, the square is adjacent to the entrances of transportation hubs Berri-UQAM Metro Station and the former Station centrale d'autobus, as well as the

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 the Grande Bibliothèque du Québec. Jardins Gamelin - 101

For years Place Émilie-Gamelin and the surrounding area held a bad reputation for drug sales and

homelessness Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

, something the city has tried to progressively change.

History

The park is named for

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

Émilie Gamelin Émilie Tavernier Gamelin (19 February 1800 – 23 September 1851) was a Canadian social worker and Roman Catholic religious sister. She is best known as the founder of the Sisters of Providence of Montreal. In 2001 she was beatified b ...

, founder of the Sisters of Providence religious community, which had operated a convent on the land. Émilie Gamelin and her sisters were known for running a soup kitchen (''l'Œuvre de la Soupe'') for the homeless community, as well as other needy people, of Montreal, until the demolition of the Asile of Providence building on August 14, 1963 for the construction of the

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 ...

. Once the construction of the metro station was completed, the roof formed the newly formed place, then called ''Berri Square'' (at that time the metro station was named ''Berri-de-Montigny station''), which was nothing more than a patch of concrete. Due to its history, for a long time many homeless people camped on this square. Allegedly, the city of Montreal created a public municipal park on the square to be able to drive out the homeless people with the park regulations which don't allow access during the night. Ironically, the city named the park after Émilie Gamelin, which might contribute to the fact that the park still attracts homeless people. Place Émilie-Gamelin was the starting point of many student protests, such as a series of nightly protests (''les manifs du soir''), beginning April 24, 2012. Since 2014, it hosts the ''Jardins Gamelin'' in the summer, home to public gardens, outdoor concerts,

food truck A food truck is a large motorized vehicle (such as a van or multi-stop truck) or trailer equipped to store, transport, cook, prepare, serve and/or sell food. Some food trucks, such as ice cream trucks, sell frozen or prepackaged food, but m ...

s and street performers. In the winter, Place Émilie-Gamelin also hosts ''Noël dans le Parc'', a Christmas village. These are part of an ongoing series of effort by the city to revitalize the area, making it more family friendly and appealing to tourists.

Art at Place Émilie-Gamelin

The north end of the square features the metal sculpture ''Skyscraper, Waterfall, Roads, Brooks... a Construction'' () by artist Melvin Charney. Inside the metro entrance on the south-west corner of the park (corner rue Sainte-Catherine and rue Berri) is a bronze statue of Gamelin, called ''Mère Émilie Gamelin'' (''Mother Émilie Gamelin''). The 1,9m high work of art, made by sculptor Raoul Hunter in 1999, was inaugurated on May 25, 2000 commemorating both the 200th anniversary of her birth and the renovation of the rue Sainte-Catherine kiosk, located in the Place Émilie-Gamelin where the shelter she founded once stood. The bronze on her right hand, which is symbolically stretched out toward people in need, is slowly fading because of all the people that shake her hand for fun. The statue is owned by the City of Montreal.

References

External links

Jardins GamelinNoël dans le Parc
{{DEFAULTSORT:Place Emilie-Gamelin Emilie-Gamelin, Place Quartier Latin, Montreal Homelessness in Canada Drugs in Canada Skid rows U Outdoor sculptures in Montreal Public art in Montreal

History

Art at Place Émilie-Gamelin

See also

References

External links