Montreal DistrictsOutremontThe DistrictThe Outremont village has been named after a house built by Louis-Tancrède Bouthillier (F) in 1833 which he named Outre-Mont, beyond the mountain. Our mountain! and park (F&E;) is called Mount Royal (F&E;) and is located in the middle of the Island of Montreal. The house (F&E;) still exists and is located on McDougall between Côte-Sainte-Catherine and Elmwood. In 1895, the village became the Town of Outremont, but a very rural town since cows were still wandering on Côte-Sainte-Catherine. Some 15 years later, between 1911 and 1931, the borough reached its full size. It is the smallest in Montreal and one of the richest and most picturesque residential communities of the island of Montreal (MBK). Very residential, the borough is well known for the beauty of its imposing old residences as those on Maplewood. As a whole, Côte-Sainte-Catherine is animated by a beautiful sequence of residences and institutional buildings, while vast mansions and large gardens prevail on Maplewood near Côte-Sainte-Catherine South. A collection of urban houses built on Bernard and on Dollard during the 1920’s offer a delightful and peaceful atmosphere. Along Bernard, corner of Dollard near the Beaubien Park (F&E;) and corner of Querbes near the Saint-Viateur Park (F&E;), large apartment buildings designed by renowned architects include fine looking canopies and beautiful wrought iron balconies. On de l’Épée, Bloomfield, Davaar and Pagnuelo going South, then on Willowdale going West, several houses and several apartment buildings show many art deco forms and details. North of Bernard the neighbourhood is mainly composed of triplexes and apartment buildings. Glencoe, South of Côte-Sainte-Catherine as well as Ainslie further East and North of Côte-Sainte-Catherine offer fine-looking houses built in the 1930’s. While you are visiting the area, you can also visit the religious "Musée Marie-Rose Durocher" located on Mont-Royal boulevard and opened on Sundays afternoons only. West of Rockland, the neighbourhood is even richer and its semi-detached and detached homes are quite a sight. The most beautiful houses, castles for some, are found between Côte-Sainte-Catherine and Mont-Royal, along side the mountain. This fine borough has been twinned as a sister city with Oakwood (E), Ohio. Houses in Oakwood vary greatly in size and have styles that include Tudor, Swiss Chalets, Georgian Colonial, White Clapboard Colonial, and Gothic architecture (F&E;) styles montreal. The borough has also been twinned with Le Vésinet (F) in France, one of the wealthiest suburbs of Paris, known for its wooded avenues, mansions and lakes. The borough is bordered by Avenue du Parc to the East, Darlington to the West, Mont-Royal to the South and Van Horne to the North. The neighbourhood has been traditionally largely inhabited by Francophones, but also by a large number of Hasidic Jews. The Hasidic (E) Jewish community is actually quite sizable, representing about 20% of the population. They reside mainly in the eastern and northern portions of the borough. Many Jewish synagogues, schools and businesses can be found on Van Horne, Bernard and St-Viateur. The ministry of the Temple Baptist Church (E) has been challenged to meet the needs of many ethnic groups who have come to Montreal. French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Armenian and Chinese congregations have developed here and several churches were born as a result. In Outremont, the Temple Baptist Church who believes in the priesthood of all believers, is located on Bernard near Durocher with activities on Sundays, Tuesdays and Saturdays. Following the 1910 Montreal Eucharistic Congress, the Église Saint-Viateur (F&E;) a large neo-Gothic church was built in 1911 upon plans drawn by Louis-Zéphirin Gauthier (F&E;) and Joseph-Égide-Césaire Daoust. It was beautifully decorated by renowned artist Guido Nincheri (E) who also designed the stained-glass windows. The oak paneling were executed by Philibert Lemay and, originally, the statues were made of plaster. In 1950, renowned sculptor Médard Bourgault (F&E;) was commissioned to replace them with wooden statues. They are now one of the many attractions of this magnificent church located on Laurier, between de l'Épée and Bloomfield. And then, on Sunday January 22, 1978 the parish of St-Nicholas Cathedral located on St-Joseph West near McNides, marked solemnly - a rare jubilee in the history of the Russian Church Abroad - the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the parish under the name Église Saint-Nicholas Russian Orthodox (E). Different Recreational Activities The Curling Club (F&E;) offers many social activities, leagues on week nights and on week-end, cashpiel in February and a reception hall that can be rent. The Club de patinage artistique (F) allows the skaters of all the levels to learn ice-skating for the simple pleasure or to excel in competition. The Soccer Club (F) is part of the Regional Association of Soccer of the Lake Saint-Louis. The Soccer Club of Outremont is managed by the MRO committee of soccer which, in turn, is mandated by the borough and by the Town of Mount-Royal. You can read about it all in the Express (F) d’Outremont.
Among the attractions found in this mainly residential community are the Mont Royal Cemetery (F&E;), the Salle Claude-Champagne (F&E;), the Saint-Grégoire-l'Illuminateur Armenian Cathedral (F&E;) and part of the campus of the Université de Montréal (F&E;). Outremont counts many teaching establishments, including some of the best private schools on the Island of Montreal, a large part of the campus of the University of Montreal, the École de musique Vincent-d'Indy (F), of world reputation and the Collège Stanislas (F) on Dollard. A great number of remarkable buildings convey the artistic canons of their times while others strike by their impressive and original structure as is the case with the monumental façade of the Académie Querbes (F&E;) designed by Joseph-Arthur Godin (F), built in 1914 and located on Bloomfield. Outremont also has a rail yard along its northern border. The rail yard has been purchased by the University of Montreal (F) and is to be developed to house its hospital complex, its research faculties, and the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal or, in English, the Faculty of Health Sciences (F). The Galerie d’art (F&E;), adjacent to the Robert-Bourassa Library (F&E;) on St-Just exposes works of contemporary art and sometimes organises intimate concerts. The business oriented people among the Italians, Greeks, Chinese or Jewish immigrants opened stores on St-Laurent and dreamed of being successful and of moving to Outremont. During the same years, the rich English families discreetly left Outremont and moved to a territory that eventually became Westmount. Westmount now harbors a large proportion of entrepreneurs, investors and financiers while Outremont accommodates a great number of lawyers, judges and politicians. Formerly middle-class, the district is now the symbol of the French speaking elite of Montreal. The main streets of Outremont are adorned with magnificent trees and with fine restaurants and elegant shops that give an opulent and agreeable atmosphere to this beautiful area. The borough is served by the Outremont Station (F&E;) and the Édouard-Montpetit Station (F&E;) both on the blue line of the STM Montreal (F&E;). Édouard-Montpetit station is actually located in Côte-des-Neiges (MBK) but right on the Outremont border. Major thoroughfares include Van Horne and Côte-Sainte-Catherine, with Bernard and Laurier as the key shopping and dining areas. Côte-Sainte-Catherine constitutes, to some extent, the border between two types of relief and, at the same time, a separation between what is agreed to call “High Outremont” - the more opulent part of the borough, perched on the mountain itself - and the remainder of the borough. The proud Van Horne is more modest and less prestigious, but represents a good example of the social diversity of the borough. Van Horne, corner of Park emphasizes the differences between the working district of the 19th century and the better-off district of today. Laurier, Bernard and Van Horne are perfect for a stroll or a coffee. On Bernard there are many cafés and restaurants with terraces. On Laurier there are few restaurants but many fancy shops. In Outremont, the nature is omnipresent. The Elms (E) along the streets were made famous by the great painter Marc-Aurèle Fortin (F&E;). Unfortunately, the Dutch disease decimated all the elms and their lofty peaks can no longer be admired. They were replaced by Maples, Norway Maples (E) mostly, in a territory where the amount of trees standing tall and erect is quite impressive. The second most important species found along the streets is the Silver Maple (E) but a beautiful Oak (E) tree can be admired corner of Lajoie and Dollard. The neighborhood offers many green parks (F&E;), several mini-parks for the children, a few green spaces and a park for dogs. Each park has its own history and their names often recall very special individuals whose personality or achievements marked their era. The parks (F) vary in size, some have a few hundred square meters like the Dunlop, Oakwood, Stanislas, F.X. Garneau (F) or Joyce (F) parks while others, like the Mount Royal Cemetery (F&E;) offer many hectares of green spaces. Paradoxically, the most important and the most interesting park is indeed a cemetery, the Mount Royal Cemetery and its 60 hectares. The Pratt Park (F&E;) is considered one of the most beautiful parks of the territory. The Park Pratt with its stream running along to a pond is ornate by many varieties of flowers and shrubs and adorned by a basin and a charming fountain. A little more to the north, the Saint-Viateur Park (F&E;) offers a pond and a white cottage surrounded by beautiful flower arrangements. As for the Beaubien Park, (F&E;) the installations have been planned according to the age of the visitors. While the adults can contemplate the scenery or daydream in a quiet corner, the toddlers can play with the many playgrounds that have been installed for them. Furthermore, an imposing Weeping Willow tree located at the centre of the Beaubien Park, is ready to be admired, appreciated and loved. Thank you for visiting Outremont. The Borough (MBK) / Map of the Borough (PDF-F)
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