Montreal's museums

The history museum invites you to discover the life of an exceptionnal woman and to visit exhibits and an archaeological site that you will find captivating. Head for Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, 18th century jewel of our heritage, for an insight into Montréal's past.

The McCord Museum is the museum of all Montrealers, a social history museum that celebrates life in Montreal, both past and present—its history, its people, and its communities. Open to the city and the world, the Museum presents exciting exhibitions, educational programming and cultural activities that offer a contemporary perspective on history, engaging visitors from Montreal, Canada and beyond. It is home to over 1.5 million artefacts, comprising one of the largest historical collections in North America, organized into the following categories: Dress, Fashion and Textiles, Photography, Indigenous Cultures, Documentary Art, Material Culture and Archives. McCord Museum: Our People, Our Stories.

The Stewart Museum celebrates the influence of European civilization in New France and North America. Artefacts, antique maps, rare books, illustrations and archives weave a time line of five centuries. The Museum is located in the 19th-century British military depot on île Sainte-Hélène, featuring a glass tower offering a unique view of Montreal.

In addition to the permanent exhibitions – Where Montréal Began, Memory Collector, Building Montréal, Crossroads Montréal, Archaeo-Adventure and Come Aboard! Pirates or Privateers? – The Museum also presents Generations MTL, an avant-garde multimedia extravaganza on the history of the city. Every year, the Museum also holds national and international temporary exhibitions as well as a full and constantly changing program of cultural activities for young people and families. Check our website.

The Centre d’histoire de Montréal has closed its doors in Old Montreal. The museum has begun its metamorphosis to become, in 2022, the MEM – Montrealers’ Memory Centre, in the heart of the Quartier des spectacles on the corner of Saint-Laurent and Sainte-Catherine.

Visit Maison Le Ber-Le Moyne, the oldest complete building on Montréal Island. Explore Lachine’s heritage in the temporary exhibition.

Located along the St. Lawrence River, Maison Nivard-De Saint-Dizier is an outstanding example of rural architecture in the early days of the French regime. The foundations of the house, built in 1710, sit on the largest pre-historical archeological site on the island of Montréal, revealing Amerindian occupation that dates back over 5, 500 years ago.

The Guild, historical gallery and museum institution of Canadian art, has been preserving, promoting and encouraging fine crafts for more than one hundred years. Specializing in Inuit and First Nations art, The Guild is comprised of a permanent collection, one of the most influential in Canada, historically and culturally rich archives, an educational program with a broad outreach, and a gallery which draws together works by renowned and emerging artists. Situated in downtown Montreal, beside the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, The Guild Gallery offers all of their customers high quality contemporary art.