At over a hundred years old and still going strong, the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is more avant-garde and relevant than ever before. Driven by a daring and innovative approach, it has developed into a venerable museum complex revered by lovers of art, music and cinema from here and abroad. Founded in 1860, it was one of the first museums in North America to establish an encyclopedic collection. Today, it comprises over 43 000 works from Antiquity to modern day. Its five pavilions, each with a distinct vocation and architectural style, meld beautifully into the city’s urban fabric. The oldest of them all, the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion, dates back to 1912. Its majestic marble staircase takes you to the Museum’s temporary exhibitions. https://www.mtl.org/en/what-to-do/museums-and-culture/montreal-museum-fine-arts

Rising majestically above the cityscape is Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal. It is the largest sanctuary dedicated to Saint Joseph and one of the world’s most visited pilgrimage sites with over 2 million visitors per year. In 1904, Brother André, a simple porter renowned for his miracle cures (which he attributed to Saint Joseph), set out to construct a small wooden chapel, which would ultimately become one of the city’s most impressive religious buildings. It wasn’t until 1967, thirty years after his death, that the immense sanctuary was completed. The shrine includes a majestic basilica for close to 2,000 worshippers, with a dome that reaches a soaring 97 metres, the original chapel, a votive chapel, and a crypt. Here lies Brother André, canonized in 2010 as Saint André of Montréal by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome. The Museum of Saint Joseph’s Oratory, primarily dedicated to sacred art, houses an exceptional collection of crèches, a must-see during the holidays. https://www.mtl.org/en/what-to-do/heritage-and-architecture/saint-joseph-s-oratory-mount-royal

The church of La Visitation, the oldest church on the island of Montreal, is a heritage treasure that makes us discover our roots and our common history. It has come down to us from the time of New France to this day. It is up to us to protect it in order to pass it on to future generations. http://www.eglisedelavisitation.org/