Pointe-à-Callière Museum
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Pointe-à-Callière Museum is an archaeological museum in the Old Montreal section of Montreal, Canada.
It is located on the site of the foundation of Montreal. The museum was founded on May 17, 1992 for the 350th anniversary of the city.
Before embarking on the permanent exhibition, an underground tour of key archaeological sites, visitors take an amazing trip through time with the multimedia show Montréal, Tales of a City.
[edit] History
On May 17, 1642, on a point of land at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and another, smaller river, Father Vimont held a mass celebrating the founding of Montréal, attended by Sieur de Maisonneuve, Jeanne Mance and their companions. On May 17, 1992, on the very same site, Pointe-à-Callière, the Montréal Museum of Archaeology and History, opened its doors. Until the Museum opened, only historians knew about the "Pointe à Callière," so named because it was here that Chevalier Louis Hector de Callière, third governor of Montréal, had a home built in 1688. Today, the point has actually become part of the shoreline of the Island of Montréal, but its name lives on and is better known than ever, thanks to the Museum.
The Museum was founded as part of celebrations to mark Montréal’s 350th birthday, and owes its existence largely to the significant archaeological discoveries made on the site during the 1980s. In fact, the Museum and its site are inextricably linked. Rising above evidence of more than 1,000 years of human activity, it houses remarkable architectural remains, displayed in situ with absolute respect for their integrity. Pointe-à-Callière is the only sizeable archaeology museum in Canada.
The hundreds of artifacts it houses are grouped into six main sections: the Éperon, a modern building that has won many architectural awards; the archaeological crypt on the lower level; the renovated Ancienne-Douane building (Montréal’s first Custom House), the Youville Pumping Station, the Archaeological Field School and the Mariners House. The museum of a site, a history and a city, Pointe-à-Callière delves into the past to foster a debate on urban issues both local and global, and to encourage visitors to reflect on the future.
[edit] External links
- Pointe-à-Callière Museum (English) (French)
