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Everyone to Parliament!

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The Present-Day Place D'Youville

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Place Royale

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Place d’Armes

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Notre-Dame Street

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Champ-de-Mars

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Seminary and Gardens

Detail from a 19th-century illustration of the Saint-Sulpice Seminary. A stone wall with a pedimented gateway separates the seminary from the street. Behind the wall, the seminary has a main block and two wings. Passersby move about in the foreground.

James Duncan, “Seminary” (detail), Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, 4944624.

After the inauguration of Notre-Dame Church in 1829, the Sulpicians launched a new project: building a seminary worthy of the name in the upper town, a stone’s throw from the church. Construction began in the spring of 1848.

The Seminary on Notre-Dame Street

19th-century illustration of the Saint-Sulpice Seminary. A stone wall with a pedimented gateway separates the seminary from the street. Behind the wall, the seminary consists of a main block and two wings. Passersby move about in the foreground.

James Duncan, “Seminary”, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, 4944624.

The venerable building now known as the Old Seminary of Saint-Sulpice is one of Montréal’s most significant architectural landmarks. Built from 1684 to 1687, it is Montréal’s oldest building still intact, just steps from Notre-Dame Church. Home to the Sulpicians, it also served as a presbytery and a seigneurial manor. Today, the Sulpicians carefully preserve there archives spanning more than 350 years of Montréal history.

Vast Gardens

19th-century photograph of the Saint-Sulpice gardens, seen from the towers of Notre-Dame Church. The garden is symmetrical and divided into square plots. It sits in the middle of the city. At its centre is a fountain.

Alexander Henderson, "Seminary Gardens, Montréal, QC, c. 1870" (detail), McCord Stewart Museum, MP-0000.10.170.

The seminary on Notre-Dame Street is an example of French Ancien Régime architecture, in keeping with the classical style of the period. The building features a gateway bearing the AM monogram, for *Auspice Maria*, a belfry, a clock—and a magnificent garden at the back. Following the garden-planning principles of medieval monastic gardens, the site was the ideal place for quiet reflection. Like the seminary itself, it served several purposes: it was at once a subsistence garden, a place for spiritual meditation and a place to rest.