The Pointe-A-Calliere museum tells the history of Montreal – and North America.
Montreal likes to bill itself as having the best aspects of North America mixed with the best aspects of Europe, and in that respect, it’s not far wrong. There are few cities in the world that have Montreal’s mixture of buzz and vitality without feeling too intense and overbearing. It is a city that feels makes you fancy a drink, not need a drink, if that makes sense.
Vieux Montreal: Tourist central
In most other cities, the Vieux Montreal area that contains most of the heritage buildings, boutique hotels and the heavily spruced-up port would be enough to pull in the visitors. Indeed, this is where many passing through on cruises will often stay. There’s nothing wrong with that – parts of Old Montreal are gloriously atmospheric. A stroll down rue Saint-Paul will take you over cobbled stones and past numerous art galleries and boutiques before the bars and souvenir shops take over.
The Notre Dame Basilica is a magnificent beast too, while the waterfront makeover has worked wonders. Ferries and boat tours seem to be departing every few minutes, the parkland has been primped and given that this is Montreal, there’s always likely to be some festival or other going on as you walk by.
During the summer months, you may well find a rather large tent at the water’s edge. Montreal is the home of Cirque du Soleil, and as a general rule there’s a show running in the big top on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River when the winter blues have been well and truly banished.
Pointe-A-Calliere: Vieux Montreal’s top attraction
There are also a couple of really good museums in Vieux Montreal. Pointe-A-Calliere, Montreal’s museum of archaeology and history, is the best of these.
The museum is built on what is regarded as Montreal’s birthplace, where a long-disappeared river joined the Saint Lawrence. The opening presentation here is hugely impressive, with projections beamed onto 270 degrees worth of screen and wall, and a fair bit onto the excavated foundations left on display below the theatre. The tale of Montreal’s history is told, from the vast sea that covered Quebec 11 to 12,000 years ago. When the waters of that sea retreated, Montreal Island was created. The presentation also goes into the early encounters between the native Iroquois people and early settlers before swooshing through to Montreal’s early days as Canada’s financial and exploration hub, then the present era.
After that, you get to wander through the foundations of the former Royal Insurance building, and pretty much every display manages to be fascinating. I’d never realised how important Montreal was in the expansion of North America before – but it was the main French city, and the likes of St Louis and New Orleans were founded by expeditions departing from here.
More Montreal travel
Other Montreal travel articles on Planet Whitley include:
- River surfing on the St Lawrence River in Montreal.
- Three great places to stay in Montreal’s Centre-Ville.
For a selection of Montreal tours, experiences and activities, pick your favourites here.
