Old Montreal - Place d'Arme, Montreal, QC (2008-09-24) 

V080924B
Click on the picture to see it in full size.

Notes:

1. Notre Dame Basilica
big enough to hold 4,000 worshipers.  this magnificent structure was designed in 1824 by an Irish-American Protestant architect, James O’Donnell. So profoundly was he moved  by the experience, O’Donnell converted to Catholicism after the basilica was completed.   O’Donnell, one of the proponents of the Gothic Revival style in the early decades of the 19th century, is the only person  honored by burial in the crypt.  A 10-bell carillon resides in the east tower, while the west tower contains a single massive bell. Nicknamed “Le Gros Bourdon,” it weighs more than 12 tons and has a low,  resonant rumble that vibrates right up through the feet.  It is tolled only on special  occasions.

2. Bank of Montreal Building
119 St-Jacques Street W
A Neoclassical landmark built in 1847 by British architect  John Wells.

3. Maisonneuve 1642 Monument - top
Paul Chomedey de Maisonnevue in 1642 led a bunch of settlers from France who built a small settlement they called Ville-Marie which, despite fierce resistance from the local Iroquois, eventually blossomed into present day Montreal.

4. Maisonneuve 1642 Monument - base
Charles Le Moyne, one of the four figures at the base of the monument. He arrived in New-France in 1641, and became interpreter of Huron and Iroquois languages.  He obtained official letters of nobility in 1668, thus becoming the lord of Longueuil.

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