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Walking tours

Jane’s Walk: 10 Moments in Little Italy

The walking tour season has finally arrived! As usual, it starts with the 7th edition of Jane’s Walks coordinated by the Montreal Urban Ecology Centre. There’s a vast choice, more than 80 walks offered free of charge on 1, 2 and 3 May 2015 by citizens, city councillors or community groups. This annual event is organized in memory of author and urban activist Jane Jacobs.

Join us on Sunday morning, 3 May, to explore 10 Moments on the Main and environs in Little Italy.

Part of Jane’s Walks, a walking tour led by Bernard Vallée (in French)
In collaboration with MontréalExplorations

10 Moments in Little Italy

Reflection of Notre-Dame-de-la-Défense church in the window of the famous Italian pastry-shop opposite. Bernard Vallée, 2014.

This neighbourhood was created at the beginning of the 2oth century, on the edge of Montreal’s urban territory. It housed a working-class population attracted by the industrial zone around the Canadian Pacific Railway, traversed by a tram line that served the nearby Irish lacrosse stadium. Among the initial French-Canadian population, newly-arrived Italian families moved in to benefit from reasonably priced land and the possibility of gardening on unbuilt patches of land. Soon an Italian parish, patriotic associations and local shops would imprint Italian colours and flavours on the area. Today, most of the citizens of Italian origin have left the neighbourhood. The 10 moments of the walking tour will give a taste of today’s Little Italy and let you discover a rich heritage of institutional, religious and cultural buildings.

Details on the Jane’s Walk web site. Note that the tour will be offered in French only, though questions and comments may be made in English or French.