This is a wonderful collector’s book about Montreal!
I was born in Montreal, and there is so much that I didn’t know about this wonderful city.
I learned so much about the city. But I also learned how Montreal looked in the 1700s and how it looks now.
It is hard to walk down any of the street’s of Montreal and not see history seeping from every part of it. It is a city that is seeped in history and beauty.
Montreal is one of the oldest North American cities. I had no idea that it was founded by the French as a Roman Catholic mission. I also had no idea that it was named for the mountain where the French founders erected a cross.
They also laid out the streets that today meander through three core districts: the Plateau, Downtown and historic Old Montreal.
The city has remade itself three times: first in 1830s when planners decreed that all buildings be built with Trenton Limestone; again in the 1870s when the city moved up the hill into what is called the Square Mile; and finally in the 1960s when Place Ville Marie and the infrastructure for the Expo 67 World’s Fair dramatically altered the skyline.
Montreal with its signature grey stone buildings and quite parks, remains Canada’s most alluring and invigorating cities.
The book is laid out in photographs from the same area in the early 1970s and now. It is a picturesque treasure throve of richness and brilliance.
After reading this book, I am even more proud of Montreal, the city that I was born and still love. There is nothing like an old-fashioned Christmas in Montreal! That is Christmas at its best!
Rating: 5 stars
Irene Roth's Canadian Book Review Blog 