Vieux-Montréal

At Bonsecours Market, food stalls originally shared the building with a police station and prisoners’ cells. Merchants occupied the level facing Rue de la Commune and the ground floor opening onto Saint-Paul Street. Inaugurated in January 1847, the market gained its dome that same year; city hall moved in during 1852 and remained until 1878. At Place D’Youville, Sainte-Anne Market had been built over the channelled Saint-Pierre River, whose cool water helped preserve food.

The new Notre-Dame church opened in June 1829, before its interior decoration was finished. Its architect, James O’Donnell, was a Protestant based in New York. The basilica hosts Catholic worship and public occasions including state funerals. Banks, offices, insurance headquarters, warehouses and courthouses joined the streetscape as the old town developed into a financial and administrative centre. During the second half of the twentieth century, port operations moved east; the waterfront became an urban park and converted buildings brought residents back into the district. The city closed Bonsecours Market in 1964.

Key places

• Bonsecours Market : stalls, police and city hall shared the building.
• Saint-Paul Street : street-level access to the market stalls.
• Sainte-Anne Market, Place D’Youville : market built over the channelled river.
• Notre-Dame Basilica : church designed by James O’Donnell, inaugurated in 1829.