Place du Canada

Square in Montreal, Canada

Not to be confused with Canada Place, Vancouver.

Place du Canada

Place du Canada from René Lévesque Boulevard.

Type| Town square
Location| Ville-Marie, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Coordinates| 45°29′54″N 73°34′08″W﻿ / ﻿45.498375°N 73.568917°W﻿ / 45.498375; -73.568917
Area| 1.4 hectares (3.46 acres)
Created| 1876 (1876) (renamed 1967)
Operated by| City of Montreal
Status| Open all year

Place du Canada (part of Dominion Square until 1967) is a large urban square in downtown Montreal.

## Overview

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At 14,000 square metres (150,000 sq ft) it is slightly larger than the adjacent Dorchester Square, with a more varied topography due to a downward slope towards De la Gauchetière Street. Place du Canada also differs from Dorchester Square in having manicured, though densely packed, pockets of flora arranged to impede direct lines of sight and diffuse pedestrian traffic. The French term place can roughly be translated as denoting a plaza, which has a different legal definition from squares or parks in Montreal. It is open twenty-four hours per day and is bordered by René Lévesque Boulevard to the North, Peel to the East, De la Cathédrale to the West and De la Gauchetière Street to the South.

Photo of Dominion Square in 1927 and the 1907 Groundplan. Notice the key design differences between the square and the plaza

## History

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St. George's Anglican Church from Place du Canada Centre of the plaza with cenotaph in foreground and 1000 de La Gauchetière, Place-du-Canada and the Chateau Champlain in the background.

Place du Canada was developed along with the present Dorchester Square between 1872 and 1876 and was formally inaugurated that year as Dominion Square. It quickly developed into a prestige address and major transportation hub, with streetcars, cabs, carriages (and by 1889) the Canadian Pacific Railway's Windsor Station at the southwest corner of the plaza. What had once been an informal meeting place and common green would be formalized as a pedestrian traffic corridor, linking the estates and middle class suburbs to the west and northwest with the commercial sector moving up the hill from the southeast. As an urban square, it satisfied two goals; first to provide a method of diffusing transit nodes, and second as an open manicured natural environment to provide rest, recreation and a healthy respite from the cramped industrial and business core immediately south of the area.

After the cholera outbreak of 1851, the area had been the site for several hastily convened cemeteries of various denominations. Beginning in 1854, the City of Montreal began exhuming the bodies from the Saint-Antoine Catholic Cemetery to be relocated to Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery on the northeast slope of Mount Royal. This allowed for the extension of Dorchester Boulevard (now René-Lévesque Boulevard) to the west and the development of this area. Several large properties were surveyed and offered for sale.

In 1869, St. George's Anglican Church was built on the along the western side of the plaza, which was a former Jewish cemetery that had also relocated to Mount Royal, near the entrance of the Mount Royal Cemetery. Soon, many other Protestant denominations would build churches in the same area—beginning the trend that would establish the site as a prestige address.

That same year, it was suggested that the City of Montreal purchase the former Catholic cemetery and transform it into a public park in order to prevent the movement of bodies of cholera victims. The following year (1870), the land was purchased and landscaping was done. In 1872, it was given the name Dominion Square. This name came from Canada, which consisted of the four provinces that make up the Canadian Confederation in 1867.

In the 1870s, Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral took up its form as a one-fifth replica of St. Peter's Cathedral along De la Cathédrale forming the eastern side of the plaza. By 1889, Windsor Station would take up its prominent position at the corner of Peel and De la Gauchetière, with the plaza providing a path directly to the corner opposite. In 1895, the Macdonald Monument would be constructed under a stone baldachin in the centre of the northern third of the plaza. His baldachin is replete with copper bas reliefs of the various industrial and agricultural trades practised in the Dominion he first commanded. While the plaza is arranged along the skewed cardinality characteristic of Montreal, John A. Macdonald looks more west-northwest than north. The monument is purposeful; under a canopy created by the union of industry and agriculture, Canada's chief securely observes the vast expanse that awaits the command coming from Montreal.

In 1967, when Canada celebrated its centennial anniversary, the southern portion of Dominion Square was renamed and given the name of Place du Canada. From this point, the southern and northern section of the park had different names.

Place du Canada was the site of the Unity Rally, a massive political rally held on October 27, 1995, in downtown Montreal, where an estimated 100,000 Canadians from in and outside Quebec came to celebrate a united Canada, and plead with Quebecers to vote "No" in the 1995 Quebec independence referendum (three days before the vote).[1]

## Monuments

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* John A. Macdonald Monument, by George E. Wade (1895)
* Montreal Cenotaph (1924). Replica of the Cenotaph on Whitehall in the City of Westminster of London.
* Two cannons (1889), offered by Queen Victoria
* Mitrailleuse

## References

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1. ^ Garsten, Ed. "Canadians rally for a united country". CNN. October 28, 1995.

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Landmarks of Montreal

Museums|

* Château Ramezay
* Centre d'histoire de Montréal
* Biodome
* Maison Saint-Gabriel Museum
* Montreal Biosphère
* Canadian Centre for Architecture
* McCord Museum
* Montreal Insectarium
* Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
* Musée d'art contemporain
* Pointe-à-Callière Museum
* Redpath Museum
* Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium
* The Fur Trade at Lachine National Historic Site
* Montreal Science Centre
* Sir George-Étienne Cartier National Historic Site

Churches|

* Christ Church Cathedral
* Church of St. Michael and St. Anthony
* Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral
* Notre-Dame Basilica
* Saint James United Church
* Saint Joseph's Oratory

Skyscrapers|

* 1000 de La Gauchetière
* 1250 René-Lévesque
* 1501 McGill College
* Tour de la Bourse
* Place Ville Marie
* Tour CIBC
* Sun Life Building
* Complexe Desjardins
* Westmount Square
* Maison Radio-Canada

Other structures|

* Atwater Market
* Bell Centre
* Big Orange
* Bonsecours Market
* Château Dufresne
* Grande Bibliothèque
* Habitat 67
* Habitations Jeanne-Mance
* Hurtubise House
* Jean-Talon Market
* McCall MacBain Arts Building
* Montreal Casino
* Montreal City Hall
* Montreal Clock Tower
* Montreal Forum
* Mount Royal Chalet
* Mount Royal Cross
* Olympic Park
* Olympic Stadium
* Palais des congrès de Montréal
* Peck Building
* Place Bonaventure
* Place des Arts
* Technoparc
* Underground City
* Windsor Station
* World Trade Centre Montreal

Nature and parks|

* Angrignon Park
* Bois-de-l'Île-Bizard Nature Park
* Bois-de-Liesse Nature Park
* Cap-Saint-Jacques Nature Park
* Jarry Park
* Parc Jean-Drapeau
* Jeanne-Mance Park
* Lachine Canal
* La Fontaine Park
* L'Anse-à-l'Orme Nature Park
* Maisonneuve Park
* Montreal Botanical Garden
* Mount Royal
* George-Étienne Cartier Monument
* Old Port
* Olympic Park
* Oxford Park
* Pointe-aux-Prairies Nature Park
* Ruisseau-De Montigny Nature Park

Squares|

* Cabot Square
* Champ de Mars
* Dorchester Square
* Phillips Square
* Place d'Armes
* Place du Canada
* Place Émilie-Gamelin
* Place Jacques-Cartier
* Place Jean-Paul Riopelle
* Saint-Louis Square
* Victoria Square
* Place d'Youville

Islands|

* Île Bizard
* Île de la Visitation
* Island of Montreal
* Notre Dame Island
* Nuns' Island
* Saint Helen's Island

Transportation|

* Central Station
* Montreal Metro
* Réseau express métropolitain
* Société de transport de Montréal
* Exo commuter rail
* Gare d'autocars de Montréal
* Trudeau Airport

Events|

* Canadian Grand Prix
* Divers/Cité
* Fantasia International Film Festival
* Festival of New Cinema
* Les FrancoFolies
* Just for Laughs
* Montreal Fireworks Festival
* Montreal International Jazz Festival
* Montreal World Film Festival
* Tam-Tams

Cemeteries|

* Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery

Establishments|

* Fairmount Bagel
* La Banquise
* La Ronde
* Montreal Pool Room
* Schwartz's
* St-Viateur Bagel
* Wilensky's

Related|

* National Historic Sites in Montreal
* Historic places in Montreal

* Category:Montreal
* WikiProject:Montreal

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