Old Montreal

Old Montreal (French: Vieux-Montréal) is the oldest area in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with few remains dating back to New France. Located in the borough of Ville-Marie, the area is bordered on the west by McGill St., on the north by Ruelle des Fortifications, on the east by Rue Saint Andre and on the south by the Saint Lawrence River. Following recent amendments, the district has been expanded slightly to include the rue des Soeurs Grises in the west, Saint Antoine St. in the north and Saint Hubert Street in the east. It also includes the Old Port of Montreal. Most of Old Montreal was declared an historic district in 1964 by the Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec.

History

Origins

In 1605 Samuel de Champlain set up a fur-trading post at Place Royale, at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence River and the long-vanished Petite Rivière St-Pierre, adjacent to present-day Place D'Youville and the Pointe-à-Callière Museum. However, the local Iroquois successfully defended their land and the French abandoned their post.

Montréal, Aude

Montréal is a commune just south of Carcassonne in the Aude department, a part of the ancient Languedoc province and the present-day Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France.

History

In 1206 Montréal was the site of debates between Catholics and Cathars, a sect of Christianity whose beliefs ran contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church of the time. These debates were initiated by Diego of Osma and his canon, the future Saint Dominic, as part of Pope Innocent III's program to convert the Cathars in the area to Catholocism.

Population

See also

References

Montreal (Crusader castle)

Montreal is a Crusader castle on the eastern side of the Arabah, perched on the side of a rocky, conical mountain, looking out over fruit trees below. The ruins, called Shoubak or Shawbak in Arabic, are located in modern town of Shoubak in Jordan.

History

The castle was built in 1115 by Baldwin I of Jerusalem during his expedition to the area where he captured Aqaba on the Red Sea in 1116. Originally called 'Krak de Montreal' or 'Mons Regalis', it was named in honour of the king's own contribution to its construction (Mont Royal). It was strategically located on a hill on the plain of Edom, along the pilgrimage and caravan routes from Syria to Arabia. This allowed Baldwin to control the commerce of the area, as pilgrims and merchants needed permission to travel past it. It was surrounded by relatively fertile land, and two cisterns were carved into the hill, with a long, steep staircase leading to springs within the hill itself.

Island of Montreal

The Island of Montreal (French: Île de Montréal, Kanien’kéha: Tiohtià:ke), in southwestern Quebec, Canada, is located at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. It is separated from Île Jésus (Laval) by the Rivière des Prairies.

The island is boomerang-shaped (one end pointing roughly west, the other roughly northeast). It is the largest island in the Hochelaga Archipelago, and the second largest in the Saint Lawrence River (following Anticosti Island in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence). It is the most populous island in Canada and the 37th most populous island on earth. Montreal Island is the second most populous river island in the world (behind Zhongshan Dao in China), as well as the largest population of any island in the world on fresh water.

The St. Lawrence widens into Lake Saint-Louis south-west of the island, narrows into the Lachine Rapids, then widens again into the Bassin de La Prairie before becoming the St. Lawrence again and flowing toward Quebec City. Saint Helen's Island and Île Notre-Dame are in the Saint Lawrence southeast of downtown Montreal.