 Daytime image (pre-renovation) | |
 | |
| 45°30′32″N73°35′16″W / 45.50889°N 73.58778°W | |
| Location | Mount Royal |
|---|---|
| Material | steel |
| Width | 11 metres (36 ft) |
| Height | 31.4 metres (103 ft) |
| Beginning date | May 16, 1924 |
| Completion date | Mid-September 1924 |
The Mount Royal Cross is a monument on top of Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It stands at the northeastern peak of the mountain and overlooks the eastern part of the Island of Montreal.
Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, founder of Fort Ville-Marie, erected the first cross on Mount Royal in 1643, thereby fulfilling his vow to the Virgin Mary in his prayers to end a disastrous flood. [1] [2]
An illuminated cross was installed in 1924 by the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste and was given to the city in 1929. The city assumed responsibility for maintenance and operation of the cross since then, but there is no documentation supporting the transaction prior to June 2004, when the Montreal City Council approved cessation of the monument.
The city also took advantage of this to perform additional work to improve access to the site and install new park furniture. The renovation cost Can$2 million, paid by the City and the Ministère de la culture, des communications et de la condition féminine. [3]
The cross is made of steel and consists of 1,830 pieces joined by 6,000 rivets weighing 26 tons. It is 31.4 metres tall, its arms span 11 metres, and it stands 252 metres above the St. Lawrence River. Following the latest renovation, it is lit by 158 18-LED bulbs. [3]
While the cross is usually lit in white, the LED system allows it to be any colour, including the purple traditionally used between the death and election of a new Pope. [4] Before the installation of the fibre-optic lighting, the purple illumination was accomplished by changing all the light bulbs. It is now controlled by computer. On various occasions, the cross has been turned red for AIDS awareness and blue for Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day. The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI presented a bit of a dilemma for how the cross would be lit; it was later announced that the cross would be lit in white during the interregnum preceding the election of Pope Francis on March 13, 2013. [5]
On March 28, 2009, it was turned off for an hour to mark Earth Hour. [6]
It is a common misconception that by law, no buildings in Montreal are to be taller than the Mount Royal Cross. However, this is incorrect as it is the height of Mount Royal itself that municipal regulations prohibit buildings from exceeding. [7]
Next to the cross, a plaque marks the emplacement of a time capsule buried in 1992, during Montreal's 350th birthday celebration. It contains messages and drawings from 12,000 children, depicting their visions for the city in the year 2142, when it is scheduled to be opened. [8]
Mount Royal is a mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The city's name is derived from the mountain's name.
Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve was a French military officer and the founder of Ville-Marie, now the city of Montreal.
The Sûreté du Québec is the provincial police service for the Canadian province of Quebec. The agency's name is sometimes translated to Quebec Provincial Police (QPP) and Quebec Police Force (QPF) in English-language sources. The headquarters of the Sûreté du Québec are located on Parthenais Street in Montreal's Sainte-Marie neighbourhood, and the service employs over 5,700 officers. The SQ is the second-largest provincial police service and the third-largest police service in Canada.
This section of the Timeline of Quebec history concerns the events relating to the Quebec portion of New France between the establishment of the Sovereign Council and the fall of Quebec.
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.
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square Mile stretch of Sherbrooke Street west.
Le Plateau-Mont-Royal is a borough (arrondissement) of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal is the municipal police agency for the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and the neighbouring communities in the urban agglomeration of Montreal. With over 4,500 officers and more than 1,300 civilian staff, it is the second-largest municipal police agency in Canada after the Toronto Police Service.
Montreal is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest in Canada, and the tenth-largest in North America. Founded in 1642 as Ville-Marie, or "City of Mary", it is now named after Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill around which the early settlement was built. The city is centred on the Island of Montreal and a few, much smaller, peripheral islands, the largest of which is Île Bizard. The city is 196 km (122 mi) east of the national capital, Ottawa, and 258 km (160 mi) southwest of the provincial capital, Quebec City.
Notre-Dame Basilica is a minor basilica of the Catholic Church in the historic Old Montreal district of Montreal in Quebec, Canada. It is located at 110 Notre-Dame Street West, at the corner of Saint Sulpice Street. It is situated next to the Saint-Sulpice Seminary and faces the Place d'Armes square.
Dorchester Square, originally Dominion Square, is a large urban square in downtown Montreal. Together with Place du Canada, the area is just over 21,000 m2 (230,000 sq ft) or 2.1 ha of manicured and protected urban parkland bordered by René Lévesque Boulevard to the south, Peel Street to the west, Metcalfe Street to the east and Dorchester Square Street to the north. The square is open to the public 24 hours a day and forms a focal point for pedestrian traffic in the city. Until the creation of Place du Canada in 1967, the name "Dominion Square" had been applied to the entire area.
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.
Heritage Montreal is a Canadian non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the architectural, historic, natural, and cultural heritage of Greater Montreal. Architect Phyllis Lambert founded Heritage Montreal in 1975. It was preceded by Save Montreal, a volunteer group co-founded by Michael Fish after the controversial demolition of the Van Horne Mansion by developer David Azrieli in 1973. Heritage Montreal played a key role in efforts to halt demolition and redevelopment in the McGill Ghetto, also known as Milton Park.
The Pioneers' Monument Obelisk is a monument in Old Montreal.
Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and national shrine located at 3800 Queen Mary Road in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood on Mount Royal's Westmount Summit in Montreal, Quebec. It is a National Historic Site of Canada and is Canada's largest church, with one of the largest church domes in the world. Founded in 1904 by Saint André Bessette in honour of his patron saint, Saint Joseph, the Oratory is the product of numerous architects and thousands of workers in a process spanning six decades. With its monumental scale, Renaissance Revival facade and contrasting Art Deco interior, the Oratory is recognizable not just in Montreal but around the world, attracting more than 2 million visitors and pilgrims to its steps each year.
Léon Trépanier OBE, was a Quebec journalist, historian and politician. He was president of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montreal from 1925 to 1929.
The Réseau express métropolitain is a light metro rapid transit system in Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists of five stations and connects Downtown Montreal with the suburb of Brossard. Extensions to the western Montreal suburbs and Montréal–Trudeau International Airport are under construction and will open in two stages in 2025 and 2027. A portion of the route was taken over from the Exo commuter rail Deux-Montagnes line and is being converted to light metro standards.
