What sets a city apart from a capital? Its parliament. When Montréal was chosen as the capital of the Province of Canada in 1843, the authorities decided to convert the imposing Sainte-Anne Market—a large neoclassical building—into a parliament, where the government would sit beginning in 1844. Five years later, on April 25, 1849, the building was devastated by a fire during a historic riot.

Today, this exceptional site—where the remains of the Parliament are preserved—has been excavated several times and studied through research in public archives. This work has revealed the site’s symbolic importance in the history of Montréal and of Canadian politics. So… everyone to Parliament!