MONTREAL

MONTREAL

Montreal   is a city in the Canadian province of Quebec. It is the largest city in the province, the second-largest in the country (after Toronto) and the fifteenth-largest in North America. Originally calledVille-Marie, or "City of Mary", named after Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, or Mont Réal as it was spelled in Middle French (Mont Royal in modern French). The city is located on the Island of Montreal, which took its name from the same source as the city, and a few much smaller peripheral islands, the largest of which is Île Bizard.

As of 2011, the city of Montreal had a population of 1,649,519. Montreal's metropolitan area (CMA) (land area 4,259 square kilometres (1,644 sq mi)) had a population of 3,824,221 and a population of 1,886,481 in the urban agglomeration of Montreal, all of the municipalities on the Island of Montreal included. 

French is the city's official language  Montreal is the second largest primarily French-speaking city in the world, after Paris. 

Montreal was called "Canada's Cultural Capital" by Monocle and recently was named a UNESCO City of Design.  Historically the commercial capital of Canada, it was surpassed in population and economic strength by Toronto in the 1970s. Today it remains an important centre of commerce, aerospace, finance, pharmaceuticals, technology, design, culture, tourism, film and world affairs. 

MAJOR ATTRACTIONS OF MONTREAL

The City Hall  - The City Hall  was designed by Perrault with an eye to the French Empire style of Napoleon III. Built between 1872 and 1878 it had to be restored following a fire in 1922.

Its hall of honor is resplendent with marble and bronze, and has a bust of Jacques Viger, Montréal's first mayor in 1833. It was from the balcony of City Hall that, during his visit to Canada in the summer of 1967. 

 The Olympic Park - The Olympic Stadium, at its center, holds between 60,000 and 80,000 spectators and is nowadays used for baseball, festivals, fairs and shows. Looking like a great seashell, the bowl can be covered over against the elements by a roof attached by cables to the mast looming above it. A platform at the top of the mast reached by a lift affords a magnificent view, in fine weather, over the city and its surroundings.

The Olympic Stadium, one of the most visited sports arenas in North America, is the home of Montréal's famous baseball team, the "Montréal Expos".

 Mont-Royal - Mont-Royal rises 233 m   above the city and is the green lung near the city center. A stroll through this lovely park enables the visitor to see monuments from Jacques Cartier to King George VI, to spend some time by the Lac-aux-Castors and to have a look at the cemeteries on the western slope where the city's different ethnic groups have rested in peace together for centuries. From the summit, or rather from a platform below the cross, there unfolds a magnificent panorama of the whole of the 51 km   length of the Île de Montréal and the St Lawrence. On clear days the view extends to the Adirondack Mountains in the USA.

Center Canadien  For Architecture  - This  is an attraction of a rather special kind - the Center Canadien d'Architecture. This quite exceptional museum, housed in an elegant post-modern building by Phyllis Lambert and Peter Ross, boasts an unusually comprehensive collection of architectural drawings and photographs, together with a library and archive.

The Center Canadien d'Architecture hosts a variety of temporary exhibits. The extensive Collection enables the CCA the be a leading voice in advancing knowledge, promoting public understanding, and widening thought on architecture, its history, theory, practice, and role in society today.

Botanical Garden North America's leading botanical garden, the lay-out of which is wonderfully imaginative. At the Jardin Botanique, visitors are drawn in particular to the Japanese Garden. The glasshouses too are exceptional, especially the displays of orchids and bonsai. The gardens contain in all some 22,000 species of plant.

The huge Arboretum covers 40 ha and includes approximately 7,000 trees and shrubs. Most of these bloom from May to July, with beautiful displays of rhododendrons and cherry trees. Visitors can learn about the trees and their roles at the "Tree House".

The Botanical Gardens also have ponds which support a variety of birds. Also on site is an Insectarium with live and mounted insects.