The rivers and water bodies of Montreal are few and mostly artificial. Hydrography of the island of Montreal remained intact until approximately XIXth when Montreal underwent major urban works, including the construction of the Lachine Canal and the creation of the first major parks of Montreal.
After the Ice Age, around 13,000 years ago, Montreal and the Saint Lawrence Lowlands were flooded by the Champlain Sea. Within a few centuries, as and when these waters receded, Mount Royal and its three summits emerged into islands. With the complete withdrawal of the sea, water was retained in some depression of the island. This was the case amongst others of Beaver Lake, located in the palm of Mount Royal. This gradually dried up to become a fen. [1] It was artificially dredged (excavated) in 1938.
There used to be a complex hydrographic, which is now destroyed or channeled. [2] [3]
Today there are only a handful of streams and lakes in nature. However, many parks have ponds or artificial lakes of large size.
Below is a partial list of current waters bodies of the island:
The St. Lawrence River is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, traversing Ontario and Quebec in Canada and New York in the United States. A section of the river demarcates the Canada–U.S. border.
The Island of Montreal is a large island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, that is the site of a number of municipalities, including most of the city of Montreal, and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main island of the Hochelaga Archipelago at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa rivers.
Lake Saint-Louis is a lake in southwestern Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa rivers. The Saint Lawrence Seaway passes through the lake.
The Lachine Canal is a canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running 14.5 kilometres from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroughs of Lachine, Lasalle and Sud-Ouest.
Verdun is a borough (arrondissement) of the city of Montreal, Quebec, located in the southeastern part of the island.
Pointe-Saint-Charles is a neighbourhood in the borough of Le Sud-Ouest in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Historically a working-class area, the creation of many new housing units, the recycling of industrial buildings into business incubators, lofts, and condos, the 2002 re-opening of the canal as a recreation and tourism area, the improvement of public spaces, and heritage enhancement have all helped transform the neighbourhood and attract new residents. Community groups continue to be pro-active in areas related to the fight against poverty and the improvement of living conditions.
Ville-Marie is the name of a borough (arrondissement) in the centre of Montreal, Quebec. The borough is named after Fort Ville-Marie, the French settlement that would later become Montreal, which was located within the present-day borough. Old Montreal is a National Historic Site of Canada.
Le Sud-Ouest is a borough (arrondissement) of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Havre-Saint-Pierre is a municipality located on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in Côte-Nord region, Minganie RCM, Quebec, Canada.
Pointe-à-Callière Museum is a museum of archaeology and history in Old Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1992 as part of celebrations to mark Montreal's 350th birthday. The museum has collections of artifacts from the First Nations of the Montreal region that illustrate how various cultures coexisted and interacted, and how the French and British empires influenced the history of this territory over the years. The site of Pointe-à-Callière has been included in Montreal’s Birthplace National Historic Site since its designation in 1924.
The Soulanges Canal is an abandoned shipping canal in Quebec, Canada. It follows the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River between Pointe-des-Cascades and Coteaux-Landing, bypassing the rapids between Lake Saint-Louis and Lake Saint-Francis. In between, it passes through the towns of Les Cèdres and Coteau-du-Lac. It superseded the first Beauharnois Canal which was on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence. It is 23 kilometres (14 mi) long and had a 4.3-metre (14.1 ft) draught. Five locks measuring 85.3 m × 14 m give a total rise of 25 metres (82 ft).
Events from the year 1611 in Quebec.
Montreal is the second largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec, located along the Saint Lawrence River at its junction with the Ottawa River. The city is geographically constrained, with the majority on the Island of Montreal in the Hochelaga Archipelago, and has several prominent features, including the eponymous Mount Royal. The region experiences four distinct seasons and is classified as a humid continental climate, with very cold and snowy winters and warm and humid summers.
Côte-Saint-Paul is a neighbourhood located in the Southwest Borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The timeline of Montreal history is a chronology of significant events in the history of Montreal, Canada's second-most populated city, with about 3.5 million residents in 2018, and the fourth-largest French-speaking city in the world.
Fort Ville-Marie was a French fortress and settlement established in May 1642 by a company of French settlers, led by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve, on the Island of Montreal in the Saint Lawrence River at the confluence of the Ottawa River, in what is today the province of Quebec, Canada. Its name is French for "City of Mary", a reference to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Saint Pierre River was a river in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, flowing into the St. Lawrence River. The city of Montreal was founded at its mouth, at the height of the site Pointe-à-Callière Museum.