Travel into the past

We recognize the St-Henri neighbourhood due to its architecture. In this sense, several historic sites are detailed and unavoidable to admire. They remain valuable legacies of the past of the sector. In St-Henri, one name is well known in connection with this built legacy. The prolific urban architect of the time, Ludger Lemieux (1872-1953) who created, at the beginning of the last century, many of the buildings now hoisted to the rank of true symbols of the district: the Fire Station 23 with its art deco facade (built on the location of Saint-Henri’s former Town Hall), the majestic St-Zotique, St-Irénée and Delisle Churches, the St-Henri Bath and, the most notorious of his achievements, the buzzing Atwater Market.

With its imposing stone building topped with a clock, Place St-Henri is also a visually striking place. Formerly the heart of the neighbourhood, it hosts today a metro station with the same name. Take the steps and go down to admire a particularly symbolic work of art that is hidden and often ignored by passersby, . The mezzanine of the station is indeed adorned with a mural made of coloured glazed bricks created by the artist Julien Hébert: “Bonheur d’occasion”. It commemorates the work of the author Gabrielle Roy and more particularly her cult novel, which takes place in St-Henri in the 1940s. One can even imagine that the visual artist asked the permission from this great lady of Quebec’s literature to use the title of her most famous story. The latter would have accepted with joy.

Finish your trip through the past at the Musée des Ondes Emile Berligner (named in honor of the inventor of the gramophone) whose mission is to “safeguard, study and disseminate the tangible and intangible heritage associated with cultural, architectural, technological and scientific nature of the sound wave industry “. Did you know that an iconic recording studio was once established in this building? Although it closed in 2015, Studio VICTOR remains a symbol closely linked to the history of the sound industry in Canada. Its RCA recording room, with is unique acoustics now preserved by the museum, stands out as one of the last witnesses of a crucial technological era, unfortunately bygone.