Page 239 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Canada

Interior of the Basilique Notre-Dame-de-Montréal

MONTREAL

Montreal’s location at the con vergence of the
Saint Lawrence and Ottawa rivers made it Canada’s
first great trading center. It was founded in 1642
by a group of French Catholics as a Christian
community and port. Much of its economic power
has now moved west to Toronto, and what makes
Montreal interesting today is a cultural, rather
than a geographical, confluence.
About 70 percent of its 1.75 million residents
are of French descent, another 15 percent have
British origins, and the rest represent nearly every
major ethnic group. Many of its residents speak
two or more languages. The communities form a
kind of mosaic, with the anglophones in the west,
the francophones in the east, and other ethnic
communities in pockets all over the city. The most
interesting neighborhoods sprawl along the
southern slopes of Mont-Royal – the 767-ft
(234-m) hill from which the city derives its name.
Vieux-Montréal’s network of narrow, cobblestone
streets huddles near the waterfront, while the
main shopping area is farther north along
rue Sainte-Catherine.
239

238-239_EW_Canada.indd 239 28/01/2019 14:45