The green gem
Like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, it is practically impossible to visit Montréal without seeing Mount Royal and enjoying the view from its summit. To Montrealers, Mount Royal is much more than a mountain. It’s a testimony to their city’s evolution, a precious gem that they were able to preserve from urban development. They are proud of it, and rightly so.
On this triple-peaked mountain, Mount Royal Park occupies a privileged 200-hectare space, with breathtaking views of the urban centre that surrounds it. The park was designed by the celebrated landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed New York’s Central Park. This father of modern landscape architecture wanted to offer citizens the “charm of natural landscapes” on the mountain to counteract the unhealthy effects of urban life.
Mount Royal Park, like Parc Jeanne-Mance, is part of the Mount Royal National and Historic District, which provides it with increased protection. Since the park opened in 1876, it has changed, grown and undergone restoration work to preserve its beauty. Its location and the four million eight hundred thousand people who visit the park this year pose a number of challenges for the city. Montréal’s municipal administration and the provincial government have invested nearly $30 million over the past two decades in this popular nature spot. The city around the “green gem” has also changed, but one thing remains constant: Montrealers’ love for their mountain in the heart of the city.
