Montréal
IN ONE ‘GOLDEN’ SQUARE MILE, CENTURIES OF CANADIAN HISTORY With its melange of cultures, languages, cuisines and festivals, it’s no surprise to discover that Montréal is a city of architectural marvels. From the 18th-century cobblestone streets and facades of Old Montréal to the brutalist cacophony of Habitat 67 (a model urban housing complex built for the World’s Fair of 1967) to the sleek Quartier International, a stroll through Canada’s second-most populous city reveals architectural heritage and innovation side-by- side. It’s why Montréal was appointed the first UNESCO City of Design in North America, and why it presents a template for others seeking to create cityscapes of ultra-modern skyscrapers and beloved, historical landmarks. This balance of old-world Europe and contemporary design didn’t occur without strife, of course. A picturesque stroll among the elegant properties now repurposed as galleries, museums, embassies and boutique hotels in the city’s eclectic Golden Square Mile ( Le Mille Carré in French) hints at Montréal’s origins and evolution and the industrialists, old-money Victorians and dynastic families who created a neighborhood that became an epicenter of grace and opulence.
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