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Palais des Congrès

Old ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô


Entering the hall of this convention center with its facade of popsicle-colored panes is akin to strolling through a kaleidoscope. Day brings out the colors, night the transparency. The exhibition center integrates several historic buildings: a 1908 fire station, the art-deco Tramways building from 1928 and a Victorian-era office complex. Immediately east of the Palais lies a landscaped garden with stone pathways linking 31 heaps of earth, each topped off with ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô’s official tree, the crab apple.

During warmer weather you might catch public design installations such as painted pianos. Otherwise ponder the 52 permanent pink tree sculptures of surreal Lipstick Forest by Québec landscape architect Claude Cormier – meant to represent the harmony of nature and city.


Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¼´Ê±¿ª½±'s must-see attractions

Nearby Old ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô attractions

1. Bank of Montreal

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Modeled after the Pantheon in Rome, the grand colonnaded edifice of Canada’s oldest chartered bank, built in 1847, dominates the north side of Place d…

2. Place d'Armes

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This open square is framed by some of the finest buildings in Old ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô, including its oldest bank, first skyscraper and Basilique Notre-Dame. The…

3. Guardian Trust Building

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One of several grand buildings along Rue St-Jacques, the 1902 Guardian Trust Building has helmeted women's heads guarding the entrance while those of…

4. Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle

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The big draw of this square by the Palais Des Congrès is the fountain that releases a ring of fire (and an ethereal mist) at certain times of year. The…

5. New York Life Building

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²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô’s first skyscraper, built in 1888, stands eight stories tall.

6. Molson Bank Building

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The Molson beer-brewing dynasty had its own bank, but the Molson Bank Building looks more like a royal residence; heads of founder William and his two…

7. Vieux Séminaire de St-Sulpice

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The seminary by the Basilique Notre-Dame and its grounds are closed to the public, but you can look at them through the gate. The Catholic order of…

8. Basilique Notre-Dame

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²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô's famous landmark, Notre Dame Basilica, is a 19th-century Gothic Revival masterpiece with spectacular craftsmanship – a visually pleasing, if…