| Nelson Column | |
|---|---|
| Location | Place Jacques-Cartier, Old Montreal |
| Material | stone |
| Height | 62 ft (19 m) |
| Beginning date | August 17th 1809 |
| Dedicated to | Horatio Nelson |
Nelson's Column is a monument in Place Jacques-Cartier, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Installed on the Place Jacques-Cartier in 1809, Nelson's column was the second monument to be erected in Montreal.
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The column was built in 1809 to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson's death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
On August 17th 1809, the foundation of Nelson's monument is laid in Montreal. It is the first monument dedicated to the memory of this admiral in all of the British Empire. In Montreal as in Nelson's Column from London, the admiral stands with his back to the waves.
The Horatio Nelson statue that originally stood on top of Nelson's column in Place Jacques Cartier is now found at the Centre d'histoire de Montréal, after it was removed in 1997 to preserve it from the weather. A copy now stands atop of the column in Place Jacques Cartier.
A monument to a British victory over France in a city that is predominantly French-speaking, the column has garnered its share of controversy. In 1930, francophone residents responded by erecting a statue commemorating Jean Vauquelin, a French sailor during the Seven Years' War, in a nearby city square (now Vauquelin Square).