Smaller Montreal Museums to Discover

At a spritely 372 years old, Montreal has a centuries-old treasure trove of history that isn’t limited to the collections of its many major, internationally renowned museums. In fact, much of the city’s most interesting, truly fascinating living history is to be found within the welcoming walls of smaller museums scattered liberally throughout Montreal’s urban environs…

Located near Montreal’s Gay Village area and within the stone-walled confines of the impressive Au Pied-du-Courant prison, the Centre d’exposition La Prison-des-Patriotes covers the period of the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada in 1837 and 1838. Approximately 1,300 Quebec Patriotes were imprisoned here during that time and 12 were hanged. The Centre d’exposition is one of the oldest examples of neo-classical architecture remaining in Montreal.

The architecturally striking Sisters of Saint-Anne Historic Centre is located in Saint Anne’s Convent in the historical district of the borough of Lachine. It was conceived in 1918 as a museum documenting the history of the community, and is currently mandated to preserve and document the congregation’s history and celebrate the meaning of apostolic life. Admission is free until Oct. 31.

Montreal’s Écomusée du fier monde is grounded in the history of one of Montreal’s oldest working-class neighbourhoods, Centre-Sud, and encourages visitors to journey back to the age of the Industrial Revolution while at the same time offering many contemporary-themed exhibitions. A range of cultural activities also take place in this lively space that was once a 1920s-built art deco public bathhouse.

Situated adjacent to the picturesque Lachine rapids, the Maison Nivard-De Saint-Dizier, musée et site archéologique, the Maison, or “house,” was constructed by nuns in the 1710s and is not only one of the old structures in Montreal, but also an exceptional example of rural architecture in New France, now Quebec. The house also sits on an enormous Amerindian archeological site that dates back over 5,000 years.

As one walks into the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre they are met with the words “to learn, to feel, to remember.” Founded by a group of Holocaust survivors in 1976, the MHMC is the first major Holocaust museum in Canada in a city that has the third highest number of holocaust survivors in the world. The Centre’s many exhibitions, educational programs and initiatives aim to sensitize the public to the perils of anti-Semitism, racism and hate.

The Musée des Hospitalières de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal is situated in the walled-in, sprawling grey stone Hôtel-Dieu hospital complex. The hospital was founded by the very first nurse in New France, Jeanne Mance, in 1645, making it the oldest hospital in Montreal. The museum is comprised of both temporary and permanent exhibitions dedicated to the hospital’s history, medical accomplishments and religious art, and its collection contains more than 20,000 items that span centuries. And don’t forget to visit the secret garden of the St-Joseph Monastery while you’re there.

And speaking of enjoying the artistic outdoors, Lachine’s Musée plein air is one of the largest open-air museums in Canada and is home to more than 50 works of art by the likes of Michel Goulet, David Moore and André Fournelle. The museum is arranged in three sectors that are accessible on foot or by bike – René-Lévesque Park, Riverains Park and the Musée – and guided tours are available from April to November.

Though you may not have heard of German-born inventor Emile Berliner, you’ve almost definitely heard the modern-day evolution of his most famous invention: the disc record gramophone, or phonograph. What we call records. He opened the Berliner Gram-O-Phone Company of Canada in 1899 and the Musée des ondes Emile Berliner now pays tribute to the history of sound recording and broadcasting as well as the man himself. Housed in the old RCA Victor building in St-Henri, the museum is home to more than 30,000 objects related to the evolution of sound production.

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