Bonsecours Market

Bonsecours Market
Marché Bonsecours

Bonsecours Market, as seen from the Old Port of Montreal
General information
Address 300 Rue Saint-Paul East
Town or city Montreal
Country Canada
Construction started 1844
Design and construction
Architect William Footner
Website
http://www.marchebonsecours.qc.ca/en/index.html
Designated: 1984

Bonsecours Market (French: Marché Bonsecours), at 350 rue Saint-Paul in Old Montreal, is a two-story domed public market. For more than 100 years, it was the main public market in the Montreal area. It also briefly accommodated the Parliament of United Canada for one session in 1849.[1]

Named for the adjacent Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, it opened in 1847. During 1849 the building was used for the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. The market's design was influenced by Dublin's Customs House.[2]

Construction began in 1844 by British architect William Footner, and alterations completed in 1860 by Irish-born Montreal architect George Browne (1811–1885).[3] Bonsecours Market also housed Montreal City Hall between 1852 and 1878. The former city hall chambers is now a 3700-square-meter meeting room.

The market was also a venue for banquets, exhibitions and other festivals. Browne was charged with adding a 900-square-meter concert hall and banquet hall.[4]

Closed in 1963 as a farmer's central market, it was slated for demolition.[5] Today, the market is multi purpose facility:

Bonsecours Market was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1984.[6][7]

References

External links

Preceded by
St. Anne Market - now Place d'Youville
Site of the Legislative Assembly of the United Provinces of Canada
1849–1850
Succeeded by
Parliament of Canada West (3rd site), Toronto