The video opens with a 360-degree view of a 3D model of a black ceramic teapot, slowly rotating on itself. It stops after 10 seconds, offering a full view of the teapot and clearly showing that it has no handle.

[Opening shot of the place D’Youville in Montreal on a sunny day. The title “Treasures beneath the city” appears on screen.]

[Shot of Hendrik Van Gijseghem, project manager in archeology and history at Pointe-à-Callière.]

Hendrik Van Gijseghem:

I’m standing on place D’Youville where in 1832, St. Anne’s Market was built over the course of the Little River. In 1844 the Parliament of the Province of Canada came and sat here until 1849 when it was burned down. 

[A 19^th-century lithograph of the smoking ruins of the Montreal Parliament appears on screen.]

Hendrik Van Gijseghem:

It’s on this site of national importance that Pointe-à-Callière undertook, between 2010 and 2017, major archaeological excavations. 

[A series of pictures of the archaeological dig appear on screen.]

Hendrik Van Gijseghem:

Welcome to place D’Youville !

[The title “Objects under Study” appears on screen.] 

Hendrik Van Gijseghem:

The archaeological excavations provided hundreds of thousands of objects linked to the market and to the Parliament.

[Close shot of artefacts from the dig site, panning to the left.]

Hendrik Van Gijseghem:

So it took a long time to sort through all of it and kind of figure out what was going on, and we noticed that there were some anomalies. There were a lot of things associated with the Parliament that were domestic: tableware, for instance, all sorts of ceramics used to cook food or preserve food. 

[Multiple artefacts associated with domestic use are shown on screen, such as a jug, dining plates and a teapot.]

Hendrik Van Gijseghem:

We had a hard time sort of figuring out what it was doing there in the Parliament. Historical research as well as more archaeological research revealed that there was actually a family living in the Parliament: the family of André Leroux, dit Cardinal, who was the chief messenger of the Parliament and sort of all-around caretaker of the building as well. 

[A 19^th-century painting of the Assembly room appears on screen. It is followed by a 19^th-century painting of the legislative Council chamber.]

Hendrik Van Gijseghem:

We were able to actually identify where the family lived: in the cellars of the central body of the building. 

[Shot of Hendrik Van Gijseghem standing outside in the place D’Youville.]

Hendrik Van Gijseghem:

[Hendrik Van Gijseghem points to the informative plaque concerning the children’s tea set found in the dig site.]

Hendrik Van Gijseghem:

We found something that likely belonged to her, a little tea set made for children right over there, which is where we think the apartment was through the study of all the assemblages and the different objects that really didn’t belong very much in a Parliament, but very much belong into an apartment. 

[Shot of an archaeologist taking a large box from a high shelf. He opens the box to reveal the children’s tea set, carefully protected in custom inserts.]

[The logo of “A Parliament under your feet” appears on screen, under the title “outdoor exhibition.” There are two bubbles saying “free!” and “guides on-site.” The address “Place D’Youville, between St-Pierre and McGill streets” is at the bottom of the screen, next to the mention, “Until November 1^st.”]

[The logo of the Pointe-à-Callière museum appears on screen. Underneath it is the mention, “This project was made possible thanks to financial support from Tourisme Montréal’s Fonds de maintien des actifs stratégiques, with the financial participation of the Government of Quebec.” At the bottom of the screen are the logos of Tourisme Montréal, the City of Montreal and the Government of Quebec.]