WELCOME

Welcome to the Urban Culture course at Avila University created by Susan Lawlor and Dotty Hamilton.  We travel with our students to great cities to explore art museums, engage with the architecture, study the local film and music venues, and experience the ethnic enclaves as a way to learn about the culture of urban spaces and the interaction of art and environment.  It's a fun, intense learning environment.  

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Walking tour of Vieux Montreal (Old Montreal)

We were fortunate to have another excellent tour guide show us around the historic district of the city.
The Montreal coat of arms includes: a thistle for Scotland, rose for England, shamrock for Ireland and beaver for the First Nations. The slogan roughly translated means "Harmony through communication."
Ramsey "castle" where Ben Franklin once stayed during negotiations to establish Montreal as a U.S. colony.
Statue of the Virgin Mary greets sailors who enter port and is also their guardian.
Boats as gifts from sailors to the Virgin Mary thanking her for protecting them.

View of the port.

Notre Dame Basilica, a reminder that the main intention for settlement in Montreal was to convert the First Nations people to Catholicism.

Maisonneuve, creator of the city. His statue stands on the spot where he is said to have personally defeated the chief of the Iroquios tribe in hand-to-hand combat.

Montreal's FIRST skyscraper.
Evidence of the city's divided past is ever-present, represented through sculptural commentary in the financial district. Meet the "British Pug"...
and the "French Poodle." Both statues anchor opposing corners of a large bank building.

Being shown where the old wall of Montreal once was. It now runs through the trade center. The piece of Berlin wall was a gift from Germany to commemorate Montreal's 350th Centennial.

Never a dull view from inside the convention and visitors' center.

"Lipstick Forrest." Actual trees covered in pink paint.


7 comments:

  1. I made a comment to Alex during this tour that I believe I may know more about Montreal's History than American History. I was amazed by the rich, deep, history and dedication to the history we found in the walking tour. The tour guide was fantastic. Her enthusiasm made everything we talked about just that much better.

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    1. Interesting observation - funny how we often don't know the history of our own city.

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  2. I think this was definitely my favorite experience of the trip. So much interesting history in Montreal, and I found it quite inspiring how much they remember their history and appreciate all the different cultures in their city. I definitely am planning on experiencing more of the culture in Kansas City moving forward; I feel like I've been missing out on many different experiences or pieces of information that are out there!

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    1. Exacting Patrick - we have so much history right here - but it's easy to take it for granted.

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    2. Exacting Patrick - we have so much history right here - but it's easy to take it for granted.

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  3. The tour through Old Montreal was my favorite part of the trip. It was simply amazing! Our tour guide was very knowledgable and very excited to show us and teach us a lot about Old Montreal. The Old Port and the little markets were one of the places I enjoyed walking around. Looking at all of the buildings leading and around the market were simply beautiful. There was a lot of interaction with everyone; talking, eating, and enjoying the beautiful weather. Even though it was cloudy that day, my surroundings were still beautiful to look at and absorb the culture itself.

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  4. I think I learned the most on the tour through Old Montreal. Our tour guide's knowledge and enthusiasm definitely added to its enjoyment. I enjoy historic architecture,& of course the market area was fun for shopping. I was interested to learn the information about Ben Franklin visiting Montreal to encourage them to join the US in the revolution. I never stopped to think about what was going on in Canada at that time. I ran out of time to go into the cathedral and bank that was recommended. I think it would have been interesting to tour the "castle" as well but I chose jewelry shopping instead!

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