How many stops are on the Art & Museums walking tour in Montreal?

The Art & Museums route in Montreal includes 12 curated stops.

How long does the Art & Museums tour in Montreal take?

The Art & Museums walking tour in Montreal takes approximately 6 hours at a leisurely pace.

Is the Art & Museums walking tour in Montreal free?

Yes, Promenario's Art & Museums tour in Montreal is free to download and use, with full offline support.

🇨🇦 Montreal, Canada

Art & Museums in Montreal

Museums, galleries, and culturally rich collections. Explore 12 curated stops in Montreal, including Museum of Fine Arts, Sainte Catherine Street, and Place Jacques-Cartier. Highlights include Museum of Fine Arts, rated 4.5/5 by 4,637 visitors.

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12 places in this collection

Art & Museums places

12 places in this collection

Image by D. Benjamin Miller, CC0

Museum of Fine Arts

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; French: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal. It is the city's largest museum and is amongst the most prominent in Canada. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square Mile stretch of Sherbrooke Street. The MMFA is spread across five pavilions, and occupies a total floor area of 53,095 square metres (571,510 sq ft), 13,000 (140,000 sq ft) of which are exhibition space. With the 2016 inauguration of the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion for Peace, the museum campus was expected to become the eighteenth largest art museum in North America. The permanent collection included approximately 44,000 works in 2013. The original 'reading room' of the Art Association of Montreal was the precursor of the museum's current library, the oldest art library in Canada. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is a member of the International Group of Organizers of Large-scale Exhibitions, also known as the Bizot Group, a forum which allows the leaders of the largest museums in the world to exchange works and exhibitions. The museum is affiliated with: CMA, CHIN, and Virtual Museum of Canada.

Image by Jeangagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sainte Catherine Street

Saint Catherine Street (French: rue Sainte-Catherine) (11.2 km or 7.0 mi) is the primary commercial artery of Downtown Montreal. It crosses the central business district from west to east, beginning at the corner of Claremont Avenue and de Maisonneuve Boulevard in the city of Westmount, traversing the borough of Ville-Marie, and ending on Notre-Dame Street just east of Viau Street in the borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. The street runs parallel to the largest segments of Montreal's underground city. The series of interconnected office tower basements and shopping complexes that make up this main thoroughfare lie immediately north of the street. Educational institutions located on or near the street include Concordia University, McGill University, Université du Québec à Montréal, Dawson College and LaSalle College. By the end of the 19th Century Saint-Catherine had garnered some notoriety as being the entertainment hub of Montreal. By 1850, horse-drawn streetcars were starting to be seen on the street with growing frequency and in 1864 the first electric powered tramway provided by the Montreal City Passenger Railway was introduced on Saint-Catherine Street. This allowed workers to get to and from their jobs in other parts of the city, as well as transporting many housewives to the many department stores that had started to appear on Sainte-Catherine in the 1930s like Morgan’s, Eaton’s, Simpson’s, Ogilvy’s and Dupuis as well as jewelry stores like Birks. In 1890, there was also evening entertainment with both English and French theatres and the Academy of Music lining the street near the intersection with Victoria Avenue. This helped usher in a new way of city life that evolved into how Montrealers now live.

Image by Jeangagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0

Place Jacques-Cartier

Place Jacques-Cartier (English: Jacques Cartier square) is a square located in Old Montreal. In 1723, the Château Vaudreuil was built for Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil - its formal gardens occupying the space that is now the square. The Chateau burned down in 1803 and it was suggested by The Hon. Jean-Baptiste Durocher and The Hon. Joseph Périnault that the space be transformed into a public square, known as New Market Place. In 1809, Montreal's oldest public monument was raised there, Nelson's Column. In 1847, the square was renamed in honour of Jacques Cartier, the explorer who claimed Canada for France in 1535. The broad, divided street slopes steeply downhill from Montreal City Hall and rue Notre-Dame to the waterfront and rue de la Commune. During the high tourist season, the street hosts many street artists and kiosks. During the Christmas season, the street is lined with lighted trees. At any time of year, one can find restaurants on both sides of the street and many more on the surrounding streets of Vieux Port, notably on Rue Saint-Paul. It is a car-free zone in the summer. During the summer season, Jardin Nelson offers a garden restaurant on Place Jacques-Cartier. Other restaurants similarly offer classical Parisian-style 'terraces' for taking a drink or dining in the open air. And on the other side of the place, the famous restaurant Saint-Amable (the oldest restaurant in town) welcomes Montreal celebrities and locals in a crooner jazz atmosphere. Near Place Jacques-Cartier on rue de la Commune, an original piece of the wall of the old fortified city can still be seen in the basement restaurant of the Auberge du Vieux-Port. At the upper end of the Place stands Nelson's Column, built in memory of Admiral Horatio Nelson. The statue was removed in 1997 to preserve it from the weather, and was subsequently replaced with a copy.

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Image by Gribeco, CC BY-SA 3.0

Bonsecours Market

Bonsecours Market (French: Marché Bonsecours), at 350 rue Saint-Paul in Old Montreal, is a two-story domed public market. For more than 100 years, it was the main public market in the Montreal area. It also briefly accommodated the Parliament of United Canada for one session in 1849. Named for the adjacent Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, it opened in 1847. During 1849 the building was used for the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. The market's design was influenced by Dublin's Customs House. Construction of this Palladian style building began in 1844 and were completed in 1847. It was designed by British architect William Footner, and alterations completed in 1860 were designed by Irish-born Montreal architect George Browne (1811–1885). Bonsecours Market also housed Montreal City Hall between 1852 and 1878. The former city hall chambers later became a 3700-square-meter meeting room. The market building was also a venue for banquets, exhibitions and other festivals. Browne was charged with adding a 900-square-meter concert hall and banquet hall. The building continued to house the farmer's central market, an increasingly multicultural mix of small vendors with business mainly conducted in the French language, until it was closed in 1963 and slated for demolition. However, the building was later transformed into a multi-purpose facility, with a mall that houses outdoor cafés, restaurants and boutiques on the main and second floors, as well as a rental hall and banquet rooms on the lower and upper floors and municipal office space. Bonsecours Market was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1984

Image by Laslovarga, CC BY-SA 3.0

Underground City

RÉSO, commonly referred to as The Underground City (French: La ville souterraine), is the name applied to a series of interconnected office towers, hotels, shopping centres, residential and commercial complexes, convention halls, universities and performing arts venues that form the heart of Montreal's central business district, colloquially referred to as Downtown Montreal. The name refers to the underground connections between the buildings that compose the network, in addition to the network's complete integration with the city's entirely underground rapid transit system, the Montreal Metro. Moreover, the first iteration of the Underground City was developed out of the open pit at the southern entrance to the Mount Royal Tunnel, where Place Ville Marie and Central Station stand today. Though most of the connecting tunnels pass underground, many of the key passageways and principal access points are located at ground level, and there is also one skybridge (between Lucien-L'Allier Metro station and Gare Lucien L'Allier). In this regard, the Underground City is more of an indoor city (ville intérieure) than a truly subterranean city, although there are vast commercial sectors located entirely underground. The network is particularly useful during Montreal's long winters, during which time well over half a million people are estimated to use it every day. The network is largely climate controlled and well-lit, and is arranged in a U-shape with two principal north–south axes connected by an east–west axis. Combined, there are 32 kilometres (20 mi) of tunnels over 12 square kilometres (4.6 sq mi) of the most densely populated part of Montreal. In total, there are more than 120 exterior access points to the network, not including the sixty or so Metro station entrances located outside the official limits of the RÉSO, some of which have their own smaller tunnel networks. Some of the city's larger institutions, namely McGill University, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Concordia University and the Université de Montréal, also have campus tunnel networks separate from the Underground City.

Image by Daderot, Public domain

Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel

The Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel (chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, 'Our Lady of Good Help') is a church in the district of Old Montreal. One of the oldest churches in Montreal, it was built in 1771 over the ruins of an earlier chapel. St. Marguerite Bourgeoys, the first teacher in the colony of Ville-Marie and the founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame, rallied the colonists to build a chapel in 1655. In 1673, returning from France, Bourgeoys brought a wooden image of Our Lady of Good Help; the stone church was completed in 1678. It burned in 1754, the reliquary and statue being rescued and placed above the entrance of the rebuilt church of 1771. After Montreal was conquered by British forces during the French and Indian War, the church was attended by Irish and Scottish troops and families, and saw fundraising to build Saint Patrick's Church, Montreal's first anglophone Catholic parish. In the 19th century, the chapel came to be a pilgrimage site for the sailors who arrived in the Old Port of Montreal; they would make offerings to the Virgin in gratitude for her 'good help' for safe sea voyages. In 1849, Mgr. Ignace Bourget, Bishop of Montreal, gave the chapel a statue of the Virgin as Star of the Sea, which was placed atop the church overlooking the harbour. Emphasizing the connection of the chapel and the port, the chapel is often called the Sailors' Church. The chapel now also houses the Marguerite Bourgeoys Museum, dedicated to the life of St. Marguerite Bourgeoys and to the early history of Montreal and the chapel site. Below the chapel, the crypt is being excavated as an archeological site, which visitors can see. First Nations and French colonial artifacts have been discovered, along with the foundations of the first chapel and the fortifications of the colony. The church's prominent spire can also be climbed, offering views of the Old Port and Saint Lawrence River. In 2005, Marguerite Bourgeoys's mortal remains were brought back to the church, where she now lies in the sanctuary.

Image by Wilfredo Rafael Rodriguez Hernandez, CC BY-SA 4.0

Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral

Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde) is a minor basilica in Montreal, and the seat of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Montreal. It is the third largest church in Quebec after Saint Joseph's Oratory (also in Montreal) and the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré east of Quebec City. The building is 101 m (333 ft) in length, 46 m (150 ft) in width, and a maximum height of 77 m (252 ft) at the cupola, the diameter of which is 23 m (75 ft). The church is located at 1085 Cathedral Street at the corner of René Lévesque Boulevard and Metcalfe Street, near the Bonaventure metro station and Central Station in downtown Montreal. It and the connected Archdiocese main buildings form the eastern side of Place du Canada, and occupies of dominant presences on Dorchester Square. The sacrament of baptism is celebrated in the small chapel. The marble baptismal font is surmounted by an impressive stucco crucifix sculpted by Philippe Hébert. The crucifix is one of the most important pieces of religious sculpture in Quebec.

Image by Jeangagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0

McCord Museum

The McCord Museum (French: Musée McCord) is a public research and teaching museum dedicated to the preservation, study, diffusion, and appreciation of Canadian history. The museum, whose full name is McCord Museum of Canadian History, is located next to McGill University, in downtown Montreal. On October 13, 1921, the McCord National Museum, as it was then called, moved to the former McGill Union building, designed by Percy Erskine Nobbs in the Arts and Crafts tradition. The collection was based on the McCord family collection. Since 1878, David Ross McCord had been adding to the already considerable collection assembled by his family since their arrival in Canada. Over the years, he developed the plan of founding a national history museum in Montreal, at that time Canada's metropolis. The building that now houses the museum was administered by McGill University for over sixty years, when it was the seat of the student government. After riots targeted at SSMU led to the building's storming and several executives being taken hostage, McGill University set out to build a more secure building, University Center, the current seat of SSMU. Leading members of the community lent their support to the museum over the years. Today, the McCord Museum is supported by the governments of Canada, Quebec and Montreal, and by a large network of members, donors and sponsors. The museum was founded in 1921 by David Ross McCord, based on his own family collection of objects. Since then, the museum's holdings have increased substantially.

Image by Arild Vågen, CC BY-SA 4.0

Place d'Armes

Place d'Armes is a square in Old Montreal quarter of Montreal. In the centre, there is a monument in memory of Paul de Chomedey, founder of Montreal. Buildings that surround it include Notre-Dame Basilica, Saint-Sulpice Seminary, New York Life Building, Aldred Building, Bank of Montreal head office and 500 Place D’Armes. Place d'Armes is the second oldest public site in Montreal. It was called Place de la Fabrique when it was first developed in 1693, at the request of the Sulpicians, then later renamed Place d'Armes in 1721 when it became the stage of various military events. From 1781 to 1813, it was used as a hay and wood market, then developed as a Victorian garden after it was acquired by the city in 1836. The Place d'Armes is the third location in Montreal to bear that name, a long-used French term for a place where a city's defenders assemble. A monument to George III was elected in 1773 in Place d'Armes, the first known public monument in the city. On 1 May 1775, the bust of George III was found defaced in an act to denounce the Quebec Act which guarantees the use of French language. A reward of 500 guineas did not lead to apprehension of the culprit. It disappeared soon after, during the American invasion of Montreal (November 1775 – June 1776), and was only found several years later at the bottom of a well in the square. The square now features a monument in memory of Paul de Chomedey (1895), by artist Louis-Philippe Hébert, commemorating Chomedey's defense of the young French settlement against the Iroquois, against whom de Maisonneuve's allies the Hurons were fighting. Foundations from the original Notre-Dame Church lie under the square.

Image by Jeangagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0

Place Ville Marie

Place Ville Marie (PVM for short) is a large office and shopping complex in downtown Montreal, comprising four office buildings and an underground shopping plaza. The main building, 1 Place Ville Marie (formerly Royal Bank Tower from its anchor tenant), built in the International style in 1962 as headquarters for the Royal Bank of Canada, which it still is presently. It is a 188 m (617 ft), 47-storey, cruciform office tower. The complex is a nexus for Montreal's Underground City, the world's busiest, with indoor access to over 1,600 businesses, numerous subway stations, a suburban transportation terminal, and tunnels extending throughout downtown. A counter-clockwise rotating beacon on the rooftop lights up at night, illuminating the surrounding sky with up to four white horizontal beams that can be seen as far as 50 kilometres (31 mi) away. The name 'Place Ville Marie' is often used to refer to the cruciform building only, but it also applies to four shorter office buildings which were built around it in 1963 and 1964, and to the urban plaza which lies on top of the largest section of the shopping promenade, and between the buildings.

Image by Jean Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0

Montreal City Hall

The five-story Montreal City Hall (French: Hôtel de Ville de Montréal) is the seat of local government in Montreal. It was designed by architects Henri-Maurice Perrault and Alexander Cowper Hutchison, and built between 1872 and 1878 in the Second Empire style. It is located in Old Montreal, between Place Jacques-Cartier and the Champ de Mars, at 275 Notre-Dame Street East. The closest Metro station is Champ-de-Mars, on the Orange Line. As one of the best examples of the Second Empire style in Canada, and the first city hall to have been constructed in the country solely for municipal administration, it was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1984. Construction on the building began in 1872 and was completed in 1878. The original building was gutted by fire in March 1922, leaving only the outer wall and destroying many of the city's historic records. The architect Louis Parant was commissioned for the reconstruction, who decided to build an entirely new building with a self-supporting steel structure built inside the shell of the ruins. This new building was modelled after the city hall of the French city of Tours. Other changes included a remodelling of the Mansard roof into a new Beaux-Arts inspired model, with a copper roof instead of the original slate tiles. The new building opened on February 15, 1926. In 1967 Charles de Gaulle, the president of France, gave his Vive le Québec libre speech from the building's balcony.

Image by Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0

Christ Church Cathedral

Christ Church Cathedral is an Anglican Gothic Revival cathedral in Montreal, the seat of the Anglican Diocese of Montreal. It is located at 635 Saint Catherine Street West, between Avenue Union and Boulevard Robert-Bourassa. It is situated on top of the Promenades Cathédrale underground shopping mall, and south of Tour KPMG. It was classified as historical monument by the government of Quebec on May 12, 1988. In 1999, it was designated a National Historic Site of Canada. Christ Church Cathedral is the regimental church of the Canadian Grenadier Guards. The guards maintain their traditional ties with the church, as well as to McGill University, by marching from the Arts Building on campus, to the cathedral, annually in commemoration of Remembrance Day. The cathedral also houses the guards' retired regimental colours. Every Saturday at 4.30 pm throughout the year and every Wednesday at 6.30 pm during the summer months the cathedral hosts a series of weekly concerts, 'L'Oasis musicale,' which supports and promotes local musicians, many of whom are studying at music colleges in Montreal and starting out on their career. The concerts are open to all. The concerts feature a range of musicians, from solo instrumentalists and singers to ensembles, small orchestras, and choirs. The repertoire is mainly classical music, but occasionally, popular, folk, religious, or traditional music is played.

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