Montreal's museums

The entire city's history captured in one place. The Centre d'histoire de Montréal opens the doors to a discovery of Montréal's many identities. Three floors of permanent and temporary exhibits offer a rich taste of the eventful and sometimes turbulent adventures of this metropolis.

Located along the St. Lawrence River, Maison Nivard-De Saint-Dizier is an outstanding example of rural architecture in the early days of the French regime. The foundations of the house, built in 1710, sit on the largest pre-historical archeological site on the island of Montréal, revealing Amerindian occupation that dates back over 5, 500 years ago.

Montreal’s portal to its past, the Château Ramezay, was the first building in Québec to be classified an historic monument. Chosen as one of the 1001 Historic Sites You Must See Before You Die, the Château invites you to relive more than 500 years of history through its exhibits, its multimedia circuit (in six languages) and its French colonial garden.

The Avataq Cultural Institute preserves and celebrates the Inuktitut language and contemporary Inuit culture of Nunavik, with artworks and documentary, photographic and audiovisual archives as well as pieces from Nunavik’s archaeological and material culture.

The MMFA is one of Canada’s most visited museums and the eighth-most visited museum in North America, boasting more than 1.3 million visitors. The Museum’s original temporary exhibitions combine various artistic disciplines – fine arts, music, film, fashion and design – and are exported around the world. Its rich encyclopedic collection, distributed among five pavilions, includes international art, world cultures, decorative arts and design, and Quebec and Canadian art.

Located next to the St. Lawrence River, the Lachine museum offers an experience combining contemporary art, archaeology and history. In addition to its 17th-century buildings, it includes an adjacent outdoor museum with 50 fabulous sculptures by well-known contemporary artists.

The Guild, historical gallery and museum institution of Canadian art, has been preserving, promoting and encouraging fine crafts for more than one hundred years. Specializing in Inuit and First Nations art, The Guild is comprised of a permanent collection, one of the most influential in Canada, historically and culturally rich archives, an educational program with a broad outreach, and a gallery which draws together works by renowned and emerging artists. Situated in downtown Montreal, beside the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, The Guild Gallery offers all of their customers high quality contemporary art.

The history museum invites you to discover the life of an exceptionnal woman and to visit exhibits and an archaeological site that you will find captivating. Head for Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, 18th century jewel of our heritage, for an insight into Montréal's past.