Square-Victoria–OACI 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 in

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 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 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 Orange Line. It is located in Victoria Square near the Quartier international de Montréal district. The station opened on February 6, 1967, four months after most of the initial network, and was briefly the terminus of the Orange Line until

Bonaventure station Bonaventure station () is a Montreal Metro station in the borough of Ville-Marie, Montreal, Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and serves the Line 2 Orange (Montreal Metro), ...

was opened a week later.

Overview

The station is a normal

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; its central

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 ...

is connected to a very long

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

running along Beaver Hall Hill and under Victoria Square, giving access to its various exits. Each of the station's exits is connected to another building or buildings via the

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 ...

. The Belmont exit is connected to and located in the 1080 Beaver Hall Hill building; the Viger exit is likewise connected to and located in the Bell Tower/National Bank complex. The Saint Antoine exit is a link in the main part of the underground city, linking the

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

building with the Centre CDP Capital, while the rotunda at the south end of the tunnel, leading to the Saint Jacques exit, links the

Tour de la Bourse The Stock Exchange Tower () is a 48-storey skyscraper in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Victoria Square and Saint Jacques Street in the International Quarter. It is connected by the underground city to the Squa ...

with the Centre de commerce mondial. The station was designed by Irving Sager. Two steel

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

s by Robert Savoie, entitled ''Kawari Kabuto'', grace the walls of the great volume over the tunnel vaults, and a mural in the pedestrian tunnel to the northern entrances is by

Jean-Paul Mousseau Jean-Paul Mousseau (January 1, 1927 – February 7, 1991) was a Quebec artist. He was a student of Paul-Émile Borduas, a member of the Automatist group and a founding member of the Association of Non-Figurative Artists of Montreal. Career Je ...

. The southern rotunda formerly contained a multimedia installation entitled ''Ars Natura'', promoting Montreal's science museums. The most famous artwork, however, is one of

Hector Guimard Hector Guimard (, 10 March 1867 – 20 May 1942) was a French architect and designer, and a prominent figure of the Art Nouveau style. He achieved early fame with his design for the Castel Beranger, the first Art Nouveau apartment building i ...

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

entrance porticos from the

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (, , or , ), short for Métropolitain (), is a rapid transit system serving the Paris metropolitan area in France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architectur ...

. One of the few authentic installations on a rapid transit station outside Paris, it was given in 1967 by the RATP (Régie autonome des transports parisiens) to commemorate the collaboration of French and Canadian engineers in building the Metro. It is located within Victoria Square on the Saint Antoine entrance, one of only four open-air entrances on the network (the others are located at Place-Saint-Henri and

Bonaventure Bonaventure ( ; ; ; born Giovanni di Fidanza; 1221 – 15 July 1274) was an Italian Catholic Franciscan bishop, Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal, Scholasticism, scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister General ( ...

stations). In 2003, the entrance was removed, completely restored, and reinstalled. The station is equipped with the MétroVision information screens which displays news, commercials, and the time till the next train. The station has 4 entrances: : 605, Belmont Street (Montreal) : 601, Viger Avenue : 601

Saint Antoine Street Saint Antoine Street (officially in ), formerly known as Craig Street, is a street located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It runs to the south of Downtown Montreal and north of Old Montreal and Griffintown and Saint-Henri. It crosses the Quartier ...

W : 605,

Saint Jacques Street Saint Jacques Street (, ), or St. James Street, is a major street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running from Old Montreal westward to Lachine. In 1818 the Bank of Montreal built its headquarters on St James, which began the development of the ...

Origin of the name

This station is named for Victoria Square, which has existed since 1813; it was renamed for

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

on the occasion of the visit of the Prince of Wales (later

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

) to Montreal in 1860. Until the spring of 2014, the station was named Square-Victoria. In June 2014, the station was renamed Square-Victoria–OACI, referring to the nearby headquarters of the

International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

(). This was done to celebrate the 70th anniversary of ICAO's presence in Montreal.

Connecting bus routes

Nearby points of interest

Connected via the underground city

(ICAO) * Tour

Bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

* Tour Banque Nationale * 1080 Beaver Hall Hill * Place de la Cité internationale -

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (, CDPQ; ) is an institutional investor that manages several public and parapublic pension plans and insurance programs in the Canadian province of Quebec. It was established in 1965 by an act of the ...

* W Hotel Montreal, a franchise of

W Hotels W Hotels is an American hotel chain founded by Starwood Hotels and Resorts but now owned by Marriott International operating around 70 upscale hotels and long-stay apartment facilities worldwide. History W Hotels was launched in 1998 with W ...

* Centre de commerce mondial de Montréal (Edifice

Canada Steamship Lines Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) is a shipping company with headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The business has been operating for well over a century and a half. Beginnings CSL had humble beginnings in Canada East in 1845, operating river ...

, Hôtel Inter-Continental) * Tour Aimia *

(

Bourse de Montréal The Montreal Exchange (MX; ), formerly the Montreal Stock Exchange (MSE), is a derivatives exchange, located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that trades futures contracts and options on equities, indices, currencies, ETFs, energy and interest rates. ...

, Place Victoria, Hôtel Delta Centre-Ville) *

metro station and points west * Place-d'Armes metro station and points east

Other

* Quartier international de Montréal * Cité Multimédia * Saint Patrick's Basilica * Victoria Square * Place Félix-Martin - American Consulate-General * Le Curateur public du Québec *

TD Canada Trust TD Canada Trust, commonly shortened in marketing to simply TD, is the Canadian commercial banking division of the multinational TD Bank Group. It is the list of banks and credit unions in Canada, second-largest commercial bank in Canada by assets ...

Building * Royal Bank Building

Film and television appearances

Square-Victoria–OACI as well as the portions of the station connecting to the Underground City appeared on the eighth season of the American reality TV competition ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality competition franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. ''The Amazing Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselv ...

''. It was part of the final leg of the race that season, which involved locations in

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, Montreal and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

before ending in

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

. It also made an appearance during the second season of the Canadian version of the show. The station appeared in the 2014 movie '' X-Men: Days of Future Past'', starring

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian and British actor, singer, and producer. Beginning in theatre and television, Jackman landed his breakthrough role as Wolverine in the ''X-Men'' film franchise and the Marvel Cinem ...

, where it was redressed to stand in for a Parisian metro station.

References

External links

Square-Victoria–OACI Station - official site

Montreal by Metro, metrodemontreal.com
- photos, information, and trivia {{DEFAULTSORT:Square-Victoria-OACI station Orange Line (Montreal Metro) Railway stations in Canada opened in 1967 Downtown Montreal Art Nouveau architecture in Canada Art Nouveau railway stations