Centre d’histoire de Montréal 

Warehouses from the 1820s 

From 1844 to 1849,
home to Canada’s Parliament! 

In the midst of a metropolis 

Place d’Youville 

The Grey Nuns’ Hospital is named for Marguerite d'Youville, who took it over in 1747; she was the founder of the Sisters of Charity (or Grey Nuns). For many years the hospital took in homeless and the poor. It was built outside the town walls, and was expanded several times prior to 1850. 

In the 1870s, its right wing and chapel were demolished to extend Rue Saint-Pierre and make room for commercial buildings (one of them housed the McCready factory, a large shoe manufacturer—Montrealers at the time saw nothing strange in combining production, public affairs and business). 

Part of the chapel walls survived, nevertheless, and today has been turned into a commemorative site, on Rue Saint-Pierre, bearing the letters patent issued in 1694 by Louis XIV. Being a courteous fellow, the King begins by greeting whoever reads his message... 

Close by, on Rue Saint-Pierre, a museum is devoted to the works of an ingenious self-taught painter.