Mount Royal

Alternate uses: Mount Royal (disambiguation)

History

The first European to scale the mountain was Jacques Cartier, guided there in 1535 by the people of the village of Hochelega. He named it in honour his patron, King François I of France. He wrote in his journal:

Related Topics:
Jacques Cartier - 1535 - Hochelega - Patron - King François I of France - Journal

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:Et au parmy d'icelles champaignes, est scituée et assise ladicte ville de Hochelaga, près et joignant une montaigne... Nous nommasmes icelle montaigne le mont Royal.

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:("And among these fields is situated the said town of Hochelaga, near to and adjoining a mountain... We named this mountain, Mount Royal.")

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The name of the city of Montreal derives from mont Réal, an orthographic variant introduced either in French, or by an Italian map maker ("Mount Royal" is monte Reale in Italian). The name had been unofficially applied to the city, formerly Ville-Marie, by the 18th century.

Related Topics:
Orthographic - Italian - Italian - 18th century

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The first cross on the mountain was placed there in 1643 by Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, the founder of the city, in fulfillment of a vow he made to the Virgin Mary when praying to her to stop a disastrous flood. Today, the mountain is crowned by a 31.4-metre-high illuminated cross, installed in 1924 by the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste and now owned by the city. It was converted to fibre-optic light in 1992. The new system can turn the lights red, blue, or purple, which last is used as a sign of mourning between the death of the Pope and the election of the next. (This operation was previously accomplished by changing all the light bulbs.)

Related Topics:
Cross - 1643 - Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve - The Virgin Mary - Pray - Flood - 1924 - Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste - Fibre-optic - 1992

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