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The Old Seminary and Notre-Dame Basilica


 Tour route Next section Previous section Back to Notre-Dame Est Boulevard Saint-Laurent Rue Notre-Dame West The Old Seminary and Notre-Dame Place d’Armes Rue Saint-Jacques Des Récollets Around Rue de l’Hôpital Rue Saint-Paul, near Place d’Youville Place d’Youville Western end of the Old Port Pointe-à-Callière and Place Royale Saint-Paul and de la Commune From Saint-Amable to Saint-Gabriel Place Jacques-Cartier Eastern end of the Old Bonsecours From Bonsecours to Berri Rue Notre-Dame East Champ-de-Mars
The Seminary, Montréal's oldest building 

The Old Seminary




The Old Sulpician Seminary is the oldest standing building in Montréal. Designed by François Dollier de Casson, at the time the head of the Sulpicians in Montréal, it was started in 1684 and modified several times thereafter. It is the finest example in Montréal of institutional architecture dating from the French Régime.




With its cartouche, dated 1740, the sculpted exterior of the entrance is the oldest still in existence.
The Portal

Its gardens

 

Notre-Dame Basilica 

The Old Seminary and Notre-Dame Basilica 


Gardens were common in 17th- and 18th-century Montréal, as citizens grew many of the family's foodstuffs themselves. Archaeologists have found traces of the gardens of the Le Moyne and Le Ber families, including borders, paths and compost barrels. Right next door, the large enclosed (private) garden of the Sulpician Seminary is not only the most attractive of Montréal's historical gardens, but also the oldest in North America.

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Old Montréal

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Last updated: September 2001