Plateau Mont Royal District

Square Saint-Louis

The Square Saint-Louis for some, the Carré Saint-Louis for others is especially known for its beautiful Victorian houses, its Prince Arthur and Duluth Streets and their many restaurants and for its "bars branchés" on St-Laurent.

The west of the Plateau tends to attract well off people.

The Quartier Saint-Louis is located between Sherbrooke and Avenue des Pins along St-Denis and Laval Avenue. The pedestrian section of Prince Arthur emerges on the Square Saint Louis and the Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ) is close by, on St-Denis corner of de Rigaud near the STM Montreal Sherbrooke metro station.

In the Square Saint-Louis, it’s the residential function that prevails, even if some industrial buildings punctuate its urban structure. The district is characterized by a high rate of two floor houses.

On St-Urbain many facades show exceptional arrangements of bay windows, balconies and turrets covered with slate shingles. The area, with its multiple lodging buildings and long staircases that lead to small balconies, illustrates an architectural heritage that is unique in Montreal.

The fountain of the Carré Saint-Louis has been created by J.-L. Mott in 1849. The statue of Octave Crémazie, a bookseller, author and poet is also part of the Carré Saint Louis.

On June 7, 2005 the inauguration of a bust of the poet Émile Nelligan created by Roseline Granet took place.

The monument in the honour of the young poet is located on Laval Avenue corner of rue Du Square Saint Louis. Émile Nelligan lived on Laval Avenue and this is where he wrote most of his poems, including his celebrated Vaisseau d’or.

During the 1960’s, the writer Jean Jules Richard lived on St-Denis corner of rue Du Square Saint-Louis and observed the daily life of the people around him. He wrote about counter-culture and hippies in his novel “Carré Saint Louis”.

The poet Gérald Godin and the singer Pauline Julien lived on rue Du Square Saint Louis. A poem of Michel Bujold entitled "Lettre à Jean Drapeau" decorated a wall in their house.

Then, in a miserable room on St-Denis near the Carré Saint Louis, a young man of Haitian origin survived the best he could. Today Dany Laferrière is a prolific writer, whose works are recognized on an international scale. Dany now lives in the Nouveau-Bordeaux.

During the last decades, other artists, like Gaston Miron, Claude Jutra and André Gagnon lived and created in the surroundings of the Carré Saint Louis. Yves Navarre lived in Montreal between 1990 and 1993. His 1992 novel "Ce sont amis que vent emporte" tells the story of a sculptor, Roch, in a relationship with a dancer, David.

Thank you for visiting Square Saint-Louis.
More to come soon.

Plateau Mont Royal District / Plateau-Mont Royal Borough
Local Street Map of the Borough (PDF)

Web Sites We Like
Assemblée municipale Québec - Gérald Godin
Auberge du Carré Saint-Louis
Bibliothèque et archives Canada - Émile Nelligan
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online - Octave Crémazie
Gaston Miron
Grand répertoire du patrimoine de Montréal - Square Saint-Louis
Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie Québec - ITHQ
La fondation Émile Nelligan - Roseline Granet
L'art public à Montréal - J.-L. Mott, Iron Works
L'art public à Montréal - Monument à Émile Nelligan
Le vaisseau d’or - Émile Nelligan
L'île - L'infocentre littéraire des écrivains québécois - Jean-Jules Richard
L'île - L'infocentre littéraire des écrivains québécois - Michel Bujold
Litterature / Alive Oline - Dany Laferrière
New York Times Obituaries - Yves Navarre
STM - Sherbrooke Metro Station
The Canadian Encyclopedia - André Gagnon
The Canadian Encyclopedia - Claude Jutra
The Canadian Encyclopedia - Pauline Julien
Université de Montréal - Images d'aménagement du Carré Saint-Louis

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