Place Jacques-Cartier is a
squareA town square is an open area commonly found in the heart of a traditional town used for community gatherings. Other names for town square are civic center, city square, urban square, market square, public square, Platz , plaza , piazza , place , and "maydan" A town square is an open area commonly...
located in
Old MontrealOld Montreal is the oldest area in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, dating back to New France.Located in the borough of Ville-Marie, the area is usually thought of as being bounded to the west by McGill St., to the north by Ruelle des Fortifications, to the east by Berri St., and to the south...
in
MontrealMontreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie , the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the...
,
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and an entrance to the
Old Port of MontrealStretching for over two kilometres along the St-Lawrence River in Old Montreal, the Old Port Of Montreal has been the social, economic and cultural soul of Montreal ever since early French fur traders used it as a trading post in 1611...
.
The street is named for
Jacques CartierJacques Cartier was a French explorer who claimed what is now Canada for France. He was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named "The Country of Canadas", after the Iroquois names for the two big settlements he saw...
, a
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
explorer popularly thought of as one of the major discoverers of Canada. The broad, divided street slopes steeply downhill from
Montreal City HallThe five-storey Montreal City Hall is the work of architects Henri-Maurice Perrault and Alexander Cowper Hutchison, and was 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...
and
rue Notre-DameNotre-Dame Street is a historic east-west street located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It runs parallel to the Saint Lawrence River, from the eastern tip of the island to Lachine ....
to the waterfront and rue de la Commune. During the high tourist season, the street hosts many street artists and
kioskIn the Mediterranean Basin and the Near East, a kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward...
s.
Place Jacques-Cartier is a
squareA town square is an open area commonly found in the heart of a traditional town used for community gatherings. Other names for town square are civic center, city square, urban square, market square, public square, Platz , plaza , piazza , place , and "maydan" A town square is an open area commonly...
located in
Old MontrealOld Montreal is the oldest area in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, dating back to New France.Located in the borough of Ville-Marie, the area is usually thought of as being bounded to the west by McGill St., to the north by Ruelle des Fortifications, to the east by Berri St., and to the south...
in
MontrealMontreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie , the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the...
,
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and an entrance to the
Old Port of MontrealStretching for over two kilometres along the St-Lawrence River in Old Montreal, the Old Port Of Montreal has been the social, economic and cultural soul of Montreal ever since early French fur traders used it as a trading post in 1611...
.
The street is named for
Jacques CartierJacques Cartier was a French explorer who claimed what is now Canada for France. He was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named "The Country of Canadas", after the Iroquois names for the two big settlements he saw...
, a
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
explorer popularly thought of as one of the major discoverers of Canada. The broad, divided street slopes steeply downhill from
Montreal City HallThe five-storey Montreal City Hall is the work of architects Henri-Maurice Perrault and Alexander Cowper Hutchison, and was 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...
and
rue Notre-DameNotre-Dame Street is a historic east-west street located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It runs parallel to the Saint Lawrence River, from the eastern tip of the island to Lachine ....
to the waterfront and rue de la Commune. During the high tourist season, the street hosts many street artists and
kioskIn the Mediterranean Basin and the Near East, a kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward...
s. During the
ChristmasChristmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. The nativity of Jesus, which is the basis for the anno Domini...
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 zonePedestrian zones are areas of a city or town in which automobile traffic is prohibited. They are instituted by communities who feel that it is desirable to have areas not dominated by the automobile...
in the summer.. During the high season, Jardin Nelson is a popular garden restaurant on Place Jacques-Cartier. Other restaurants offer classical
ParisianParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
"terrace" dining.
Near Place Jacques-Cartier on rue de la Commune, an original piece of the wall of the
old fortified cityThe Citadel of Montreal was a former fortress used to defend the city.Smaller than the one in Old Quebec, the Citadel was built by the French in 1690, with a cannon battery added in 1723....
can still be seen in the basement restaurant of the Auberge du Vieux-Port. At the upper end of the Place stands what may be the most controversial monument in all of Montreal:
Nelson's ColumnNelson's Column is a monument in Place Jacques-Cartier, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.Installed on the Place Jacques-Cartier in 1809, Nelson's column was the second monument to be erected in Montreal.- History :...
, installed in memory of
Admiral Horatio NelsonVice Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a British flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars...
. Dating from 1808, it was erected by the English merchants of the city. The 8-foot statue is the world's first Nelson commemorative and predates that in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
by 33 years. The statue was removed in 1997 to preserve it from the weather, and was subsequently replaced with a copy.
External links