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Roots Earth in Montreal: audio stories about 50 places

Roots Earth has audio stories about 50 places in Montreal, Canada, in North America. The Montreal stories are in all seven Roots Earth languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The app needs no account: open Montreal, pick a place on the city's map of places and play. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection. The stories are written by local people.

The 50 places are listed below in the order the app shows them, and again further down with their coordinates. The lists were taken from the Roots Earth catalogue on 15 September 2026.

Published 16 September 2026. Markdown: montreal.md

The 50 places in Montreal with audio stories

In the order the app shows them.

  1. Notre-Dame Basilica
  2. Saint Joseph's Oratory
  3. Old Montreal
  4. Mount Royal
  5. Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel
  6. Place Jacques-Cartier
  7. Bonsecours Market
  8. Montreal City Hall
  9. Place d'Armes
  10. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
  11. Pointe-à-Callière Museum
  12. Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral
  13. Christ Church Cathedral
  14. Saint Patrick's Basilica
  15. Habitat 67
  16. Olympic Stadium
  17. Montreal Tower
  18. Montreal Biodome
  19. Montreal Botanical Garden
  20. Jacques Cartier Bridge
  21. Old Port of Montreal
  22. Clock Tower
  23. Place Ville Marie
  24. Sun Life Building
  25. Dorchester Square
  26. Place du Canada
  27. Maisonneuve Monument
  28. McCord Stewart Museum
  29. Place des Arts
  30. Montreal Science Centre
  31. St. James United Church
  32. Aldred Building
  33. Montreal Biosphere
  34. La Ronde
  35. Jean-Talon Market
  36. Atwater Market
  37. Plateau Mont-Royal
  38. Mile End
  39. Schwartz's
  40. Saint Laurent Boulevard
  41. Chinatown
  42. Gay Village
  43. Little Italy
  44. La Fontaine Park
  45. Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery
  46. Mount Royal Cemetery
  47. Saint Catherine Street
  48. Saint-Paul Street
  49. Saint-Henri
  50. Griffintown

Is there an audio guide for Notre-Dame Basilica?

Yes. Notre-Dame Basilica has its audio stories in the Roots Earth app: a short introduction and a deeper story, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian.

It is place 1 of the 50 Montreal places in the app, at 45.50444, -73.55611. Every one of the other 49 places in the list above has the same two stories.

Roots Earth is not a guided tour: you choose the place on the city's map of places and play its story yourself.

How to use Roots Earth in Montreal

Open Roots Earth and choose Montreal. The city has its own map of places with all 50 of them on it. Tap the place you are standing in front of, or any other, and play its short introduction or its deeper story. You decide what to listen to and in which order.

You can listen in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian, and there is no account. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection.

In full

All 50 places in Montreal, in the app's order, with their coordinates.

All 50 places in Montreal, with coordinates

Every place below has a short introduction and a deeper story in the Roots Earth app, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The names, the coordinates (latitude, longitude) and the one line descriptions are the app's own catalogue values of 15 September 2026; a place without a line here has none that this page can print.

1. Notre-Dame Basilica

Coordinates
45.50444, -73.55611
In one line
A Gothic Revival masterpiece on Place d'Armes, Notre-Dame Basilica is famous for its deep-blue vaulted ceiling scattered with golden stars. Built between 1824 and 1829, it welcomes about one million visitors annually.

2. Saint Joseph's Oratory

Coordinates
45.49167, -73.61667
In one line
Canada's largest church crowns the slope of Mount Royal with one of the world's biggest domes. Begun in 1904 by the healer Brother André and finished in 1967, the Oratory draws more than two million pilgrims and visitors each year.

3. Old Montreal

Coordinates
45.505, -73.555
In one line
Founded in 1642 as Fort Ville-Marie, Old Montreal is the city's historic core, a quarter of cobbled streets, stone warehouses and 17th to 19th century architecture beside the Saint Lawrence River. Once Canada's commercial heart, it is now a beloved heritage district.

4. Mount Royal

Coordinates
45.50639, -73.58889
In one line
The green hill at the city's heart, Mount Royal rises 233 metres above Montreal and gives the city its name.

5. Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel

Coordinates
45.51, -73.55111
In one line
Known as the Sailors' Church, this Old Montreal chapel was founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys in 1655 and rebuilt in 1771. Mariners once hung model ships from its ceiling in thanks for safe voyages, and a harbour-facing statue of the Virgin still watches over the river.

6. Place Jacques-Cartier

Coordinates
45.50789, -73.553
In one line
The lively heart of Old Montreal, this sloping plaza runs downhill toward the Old Port. Laid out in the early 19th century and named for explorer Jacques Cartier in 1847, it now buzzes with street performers, cafés and market stalls.

7. Bonsecours Market

Coordinates
45.50889, -73.55139
In one line
A Neoclassical landmark of Old Montreal with a gleaming silver dome, Bonsecours Market was constructed from 1844 to 1847. It served as city hall from 1852 to 1878 and was the main public market for over a century. Today it holds shops and restaurants.

8. Montreal City Hall

Coordinates
45.5086, -73.5539
In one line
Montreal City Hall, built between 1872 and 1878 in the Second Empire style, anchors Old Montreal with its ornate stone facade and central clock tower. From its balcony, Charles de Gaulle delivered his famous 1967 speech.

9. Place d'Armes

Coordinates
45.50472, -73.55722
In one line
Place d'Armes is one of Old Montreal's oldest public squares, framed by Notre-Dame Basilica, the Bank of Montreal, and the New York Life Building. Its Maisonneuve monument, unveiled in 1895, honours the city's founder.

10. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

Coordinates
45.4987, -73.5801
In one line
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1860 with its marble Beaux-Arts pavilion opened in 1912, is among Canada's largest and most visited art museums, spanning five pavilions across Sherbrooke Street in the Golden Square Mile.

11. Pointe-à-Callière Museum

Coordinates
45.5026, -73.5542
In one line
Pointe-à-Callière, opened in 1992 on the spot where Montreal was founded in 1642, is an archaeology museum built over Fort Ville-Marie. Its underground crypt reveals the city's earliest foundations beneath the modern Éperon building.

12. Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral

Coordinates
45.49919, -73.56836
In one line
Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral, built in the late 19th century as a scaled replica of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, is the seat of Montreal's Catholic archdiocese, crowned by a dome rising nearly 77 metres.

13. Christ Church Cathedral

Coordinates
45.50361, -73.57
In one line
Christ Church Cathedral, an 1859 Gothic Revival landmark and seat of the Anglican Diocese of Montreal, famously rests on stilts above an underground shopping mall, its stone spire standing over the modern concourse below.

14. Saint Patrick's Basilica

Coordinates
45.5035, -73.5647
In one line
Saint Patrick's Basilica, completed in 1847 in the Gothic Revival style, is the spiritual home of Montreal's Irish Catholic community, known for its painted interior, towering oak columns, and the historic Charlotte bell.

15. Habitat 67

Coordinates
45.5, -73.54389
In one line
Habitat 67 is a striking modular housing complex of 354 stacked concrete cubes on the Saint Lawrence shore, designed by Moshe Safdie for Expo 67. It reimagined dense city living with private gardens, terraces, and light for every home.

16. Olympic Stadium

Coordinates
45.558, -73.552
In one line
Montreal's Olympic Stadium is a vast curving concrete shell built for the 1976 Summer Games and designed by Roger Taillibert. Famous for its troubled retractable roof and enormous costs, it long hosted the Expos and remains a striking landmark of organic modern architecture.

17. Montreal Tower

Coordinates
45.5598, -73.5522
In one line
The Montreal Tower leans dramatically over the Olympic Stadium at 165 metres, the tallest inclined tower in the world.

18. Montreal Biodome

Coordinates
45.55972, -73.54972
In one line
The Montreal Biodome recreates five ecosystems of the Americas inside the former 1976 Olympic velodrome. Opened in 1992, its tropical rainforest, maple forest, Gulf of Saint Lawrence, and polar habitats shelter thousands of animals and plants under one curving roof.

19. Montreal Botanical Garden

Coordinates
45.55722, -73.55681
In one line
Founded in 1931, the Montreal Botanical Garden spreads across 75 hectares with roughly 22,000 plant species. Its renowned Chinese and Japanese gardens, greenhouses, and themed grounds make it one of the world's great botanical gardens and a National Historic Site of Canada.

20. Jacques Cartier Bridge

Coordinates
45.52083, -73.535
In one line
Opened in 1930, the Jacques Cartier Bridge is a steel truss cantilever span crossing the Saint Lawrence River. Stretching over 3,400 metres, it carries a famous curve and the interactive Living Connections light installation that illuminates it nightly.

21. Old Port of Montreal

Coordinates
45.50489, -73.55239
In one line
The Old Port of Montreal stretches two kilometres along the Saint Lawrence beside the historic city. Once the bustling heart of trade, it was redeveloped in the early 1990s into a lively waterfront of museums, a clock tower, a Ferris wheel, and festivals.

22. Clock Tower

Coordinates
45.51409, -73.5455
In one line
A white concrete tower rising 45 metres over the Old Port, completed in 1922 as a memorial to merchant sailors who died in the First World War. Its four glass clock faces echo the design of Big Ben.

23. Place Ville Marie

Coordinates
45.5015, -73.5684
In one line
A cruciform glass skyscraper rising 188 metres over downtown, designed by I. M. Pei's firm and completed in 1962. Its rotating rooftop beacon sweeps the night sky, and its plaza anchors Montreal's vast underground city.

24. Sun Life Building

Coordinates
45.50021, -73.57023
In one line
A colossal granite office block on Dorchester Square, built in stages in 1914–1918, 1923–1926, and 1928–1933. Once the largest building by floor area in the British Empire, it secretly sheltered Britain's gold reserves during the Second World War.

25. Dorchester Square

Coordinates
45.49962, -73.57097
In one line
A landscaped downtown square laid out in the 1870s on the site of a former cholera cemetery. Ringed by grand buildings and dotted with monuments, it serves as a green heart and gathering place at the centre of Montreal.

26. Place du Canada

Coordinates
45.49838, -73.56892
In one line
A civic square south of Dorchester Square, once part of Dominion Square and renamed in 1967. It holds the John A. Macdonald monument and the Montreal Cenotaph, where the city gathers each Remembrance Day.

27. Maisonneuve Monument

Coordinates
45.50472, -73.55722
In one line
A bronze monument in Place d'Armes honouring Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve, founder of Montreal. Sculpted by Louis-Philippe Hébert and unveiled in 1895, it surrounds his figure with four key figures from the colony's earliest years.

28. McCord Stewart Museum

Coordinates
45.5044, -73.5737
In one line
A social history museum on Sherbrooke Street, founded in 1921 by David Ross McCord. Holding 2. 5 million objects, including the famed Notman photographic archive, it tells the story of Montreal and its peoples.

29. Place des Arts

Coordinates
45.508, -73.567
In one line
Canada's largest performing-arts complex, opened in 1963 at the heart of the Quartier des Spectacles. Six concert halls and theatres host the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the opera, ballet, and the famous summer jazz festival on its open plaza.

30. Montreal Science Centre

Coordinates
45.505, -73.55
In one line
An interactive science museum on the Old Port's King Edward Pier, opened in 2000.

31. St. James United Church

Coordinates
45.5054, -73.5686
In one line
A soaring Gothic Revival church on Saint Catherine Street, completed in 1889 as the largest Methodist church in Canada. For decades its grand facade hid behind storefronts, until a 2005 restoration revealed it again to the street.

32. Aldred Building

Coordinates
45.505, -73.55667
In one line
A stepped Art Deco tower on Place d'Armes, completed in 1931 and often compared to the Empire State Building. Its 23 limestone storeys rise in dramatic setbacks beside Notre-Dame Basilica, a skyscraper shaped to honour its historic neighbours.

33. Montreal Biosphere

Coordinates
45.51409, -73.53149
In one line
A vast geodesic dome on Saint Helen's Island, built by Buckminster Fuller as the United States Pavilion for Expo 67. A 1976 fire stripped its acrylic skin, and the steel sphere now houses an environment museum opened in 1995.

34. La Ronde

Coordinates
45.5225, -73.535
In one line
Montreal's largest amusement park, opened in 1967 as the fun fair of Expo 67 on Saint Helen's Island. Now home to roller coasters and an international fireworks competition, it draws thrill-seekers across the river every summer.

35. Jean-Talon Market

Coordinates
45.53589, -73.61522
In one line
A sprawling open-air market in the heart of Little Italy, open since 1933 and among the largest in North America. Hundreds of farmers, cheesemongers, and bakers fill its stalls with the colours and smells of Quebec's seasons.

36. Atwater Market

Coordinates
45.47945, -73.57663
In one line
Opened in 1933 beside the Lachine Canal, Atwater Market is a beloved Art Deco market hall in Saint-Henri. Inside are butchers and bakers; outside, farmers sell produce, cheese, and flowers beneath a landmark clock tower.

37. Plateau Mont-Royal

Coordinates
45.52165, -73.57545
In one line
A dense, creative borough northeast of downtown, Le Plateau-Mont-Royal is famous for its colorful triplexes, curling outdoor staircases, leafy squares, and bohemian energy. Home to writers Michel Tremblay and Mordecai Richler, it remains one of Montreal's most beloved neighborhoods.

38. Mile End

Coordinates
45.525, -73.58333
In one line
A famously creative quarter in the Plateau borough, Mile End blends old immigrant roots with bagel bakeries, indie music, and comic publishing. Once a Jewish, then Greek and Portuguese neighborhood, it became the heart of Montreal's independent arts scene.

39. Schwartz's

Coordinates
45.51625, -73.5777
In one line
Founded in 1928 on Saint-Laurent Boulevard by Romanian immigrant Reuben Schwartz, this narrow delicatessen is the most famous home of Montreal smoked meat. Its hand-carved sandwiches and ten-day cure draw long lines of locals and visitors alike.

40. Saint Laurent Boulevard

Coordinates
45.51016, -73.56443
In one line
Known as The Main, Saint-Laurent Boulevard runs about 11 kilometers across Montreal, dividing the city east from west. For generations the gateway for immigrants, this National Historic Site threads through Chinatown, the old Jewish quarter, Little Portugal, Mile End, and Little Italy.

41. Chinatown

Coordinates
45.50759, -73.5608
In one line
Centered on the pedestrian stretch of De la Gauchetiere Street, Montreal's Chinatown took shape in the 1890s around early Chinese immigrants and railway workers. Marked by four ornate paifang gates, it overflows with dim sum, Cantonese seafood, and Vietnamese pho.

42. Gay Village

Coordinates
45.51883, -73.5558
In one line
Stretching along Sainte-Catherine Street East, Montreal's Gay Village is among the largest in North America by area. Emerging in the early 1980s, it is known for its summer pedestrian mall, rainbow-pillared metro entrance, lively bars, and the Fierté Montreal pride festival.

43. Little Italy

Coordinates
45.53161, -73.61903
In one line
Montreal's Italian heart along Saint-Laurent Boulevard, shaped by waves of postwar immigration. Cafes, the Madonna della Difesa church, and the sprawling Jean-Talon Market keep the neighborhood lively, fragrant, and proudly Italian-Canadian.

44. La Fontaine Park

Coordinates
45.5267, -73.5689
In one line
A 34-hectare green expanse in the Plateau, opened in 1874 on former farmland and military ground. Two linked ponds, leafy paths, and an open-air theatre make it a beloved gathering place for Montrealers in every season.

45. Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery

Coordinates
45.50178, -73.60608
In one line
Canada's largest cemetery by burials, founded in 1854 on Mount Royal's slopes. With around one million graves across 139 hectares of winding lanes, this Catholic resting place is part necropolis, part landscaped garden, and part open-air history book.

46. Mount Royal Cemetery

Coordinates
45.508, -73.599
In one line
A serene garden cemetery established in 1852 on Mount Royal's north slope, originally Protestant and now non-denominational. Across 67 hectares of terraced lawns and rare trees, it shelters Montreal's notable dead and doubles as a celebrated arboretum and birding spot.

47. Saint Catherine Street

Coordinates
45.51013, -73.56353
In one line
Montreal's main commercial artery, an 11-kilometer ribbon of shops, theatres, and crowds that grew organically after 1736. Once lined with grand department stores, it still pulses as downtown's backbone and the spine of the Gay Village.

48. Saint-Paul Street

Coordinates
45.50534, -73.55389
In one line
Montreal's oldest street, laid out in 1672 and still paved with cobblestones. Running through Old Montreal past Bonsecours Market, this historic two-kilometer thoroughfare brims with galleries, shops, and the city's deepest French colonial roots.

49. Saint-Henri

Coordinates
45.47716, -73.58651
In one line
A storied working-class quarter in Montreal's southwest, born of tanneries and the Lachine Canal. Immortalized in Gabrielle Roy's novel The Tin Flute, Saint-Henri now blends industrial heritage, Atwater Market, and rapid gentrification.

50. Griffintown

Coordinates
45.48756, -73.56677
In one line
Once an Irish working-class quarter beside the Lachine Canal, Griffintown grew with Montreal's industry, fell into decline, and now booms with condo towers rising over the ghosts of demolished churches and factories.

Roots Earth in short

Roots Earth has audio stories about 5,665 places in 130 cities, 25 countries and 6 regions, written by local people.

  • No account
  • Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection
  • Audio stories in English and German in every city, and in Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian in 126 of the 130 cities

Roots Earth for Android is available on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rootsearth.app.