Mount Royal

Eastern slope of Mount Royal

The Mont Royal (English: Mount Royal) is a prominent ridge on the Île de Montréal in the southwest of the Canadian province of Quebec and also a major landmark in the midst of the city of Montreal. He is named after the city and one of nine surveys the Montérégie hills (derived from the Latin Mons Regius ). So characteristic of the flat land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Laurentian Mountains. The ridge consists of three peaks: the actual Mont Royal ( also Colline de la Croix called ) with 233 m, Colline d' Outremont and Westmount with 211 m by 201 m.

Geology

Contrary to the widespread opinion of Mont Royal is not an extinct volcano, but he was nevertheless characterized by volcanic activity. It is the remnant of a highly eroded volcanic complex that was active 125 million years ago. The ridge was created together with the other Montérégie hills, when the North American plate westward pushed over the New England hotspot. Through a process called Intrusion magma penetrated into the underlying sedimentary rocks. The Mont Royal consists mainly of gabbro, which is composed of pyroxene, olivine and plagioclase feldspars. During and after the main phase of the intrusion penetrated Dykes and sills into the gabbro. Then eroded the surrounding softer sedimentary rock, which the resistant igneous rock remained standing. The mineral found in Montreal Montroyalit is named after the mountain range.

History

The first Europeans who came to the mountain, was the French navigator Jacques Cartier. After, a village of the St. Lawrence Iroquois had discovered Hochelaga, he was led up by the residents and named the hill after his patron, King François I. In his diary he wrote:

The city's name is derived from Montreal Monte Real, an Italian label that used by the Venetian cartographer Giovan Battista Ramusio in his 1556 published representation of Hochelaga on the ridge.

The first Christian wooden cross erected the city Chomedey de Maisonneuve founder Paul in 1642 on the south side of the summit. Today, standing on top of the 31.4 -meter-high steel Mont -Royal Cross from 1924, which is strikingly illuminated in different colors. Not far from the summit cross is the radio tower Mont Royal, which reaches a height of 63 meters.

From 1884 to 1918 reversed a funicular from the Avenue Duluth up to the main summit, the Funicular du Mont Royal. Between 1914 and 1918, was commissioned by the Canadian Northern Railway, a predecessor company of the Canadian National Railway, the 5.2 km long Mont -Royal tunnel, which allows more direct access to the Montreal Central Station. Today it is used by the AMT suburban railway line to Deux- Montagnes. Since the 1970s, the building code of the city of Montreal limited the height of new buildings to an altitude of 233 meters so that the Mont Royal remains recognizable.

Parks and Cemeteries

Along the mountain range, facing the city center, the 190 -hectare Parc du Mont- Royal, one of the largest green areas of the city extends. The forested park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who had already made through the design of New York's Central Park, a name. The opening of the park was in 1876. Middle of the park is the artificial Lac aux Castors.

The city center is remote side of Mont Royal is dominated by two cemeteries, the cemetery of Mont -Royal in the borough of Outremont and the cemetery of Notre- Dame-des- Neiges in the borough Côte -des- Neiges -Notre- Dame-de- Grâce. A northeastern continuation of the Parc du Mont Royal Parc Jeanne- Mance is the. The southwestern peak lies in the municipality of Westmount and is named after this. In contrast to the other two peaks it is built on, with the exception of the 20 -acre Summit Park on the hilltop.

Attractions

From two terraces in the Parc du Mont -Royal in the entire city center can be overlooked. On one of these terraces is the Chalet du Mont- Royal, a striking building in the Beaux- Arts style. At the northern end of the park, the George -Étienne Cartier Monument, built in 1919, a monument that commemorates the significant politician George-Étienne Cartier is. The monument is also the scene of the Tam - tams.

Outside the parks and cemeteries are located on the slopes of Mont Royal more attractions. These include the St. Joseph's Oratory, McGill University, together with teaching hospitals ( including the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Hôpital général de Montréal), the Stade Percival - Molson, the Université de Montréal, the École polytechnique de Montréal and the residential district of Westmount and Outremont.