Visiting Montreal`s Old Port on 17 August 2011

Where Molson's Brewery was once located

 

Hortus Conclusus at Le Petit Seminaire, Notre-Dame Basilica

Here is a satellite photograph of Old Montreal and, more specifically, of Notre-Dame Basilica and the enclosed garden, the hortus conclusus, behind the Petit Seminaire on the south-west side of Notre-Dame Basilica. The Petit Seminaire adjoins Notre-Dame Basilica and there is an entrance to the basilica from the seminary. The (possibly) better known Grand Seminaire is located on Sherbrooke Street West near Atwater. The enclosed garden at the Petit Seminaire is closed to the public and there don't seem to be many photographs of it. Of course, Montreal is "Ville Marie", the City of Mary, and Mary has a large presence here; the hortus conclusus is closely associated with Mary. Photographs of the exterior of Notre-Dame Basilica and the Petit Seminaire were taken in February 2002.

All of the institutions mentioned here are owned by the Sulpician Order. 

Seminary Gardens, Montreal, QC, about 1870;
photographed by Alexander Henderson (1831-1913). 
You can see the Victoria Bridge, top left of the photo.

Here is an old photograph of the rear of the Petit Seminaire and, coincidentally, 
of the enclosed garden at the seminary; the buildings in the background have been
demolished and new buildings constructed there

The following photographs were taken in February 2002 during a tour of the Petit Seminaire.

On rue Notre Dame, in Old Montreal, the entrance to the Petit Seminaire

Notre-Dame Basilica in Old Montreal

Le Petit Seminaire

Habitat 67

I mentioned the dedicated bus service to Habitat 67 in the last post. Habitat 67 was constructed for Expo 67 (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo_67), the incredibly successful World's Fair held in Montreal in 1967. I am not sure Habitat was popular at first, it was isolated and needed a special bus service for the residents. It may also have been cold and wind swept in the winter. Habitat is idiosyncratic in design but no one lives there who doesn't appreciate the architecture of the place, that is its special quality; it is a design for the future: high density living but privacy for the residents. 

These photographs were taken in 2011 during a boat ride from the port in Old Montreal. 

Montreal City Hall, mid-1920s

I found this drawing in someone's garbage in downtown Montreal; on Simpson near Wilder Penfield (I believe). On the rear of the drawing is a paper saying that it was framed in 1925, at a framing store on Notre Dame Street. The drawing shows, on the left, Montreal City Hall, and just over to the right is Place Jacques Cartier, a popular tourist location that leads down to rue St. Paul and the Old Port. The artist's name is William Lopp? Sopp? I don't know...