The Château Ramezay Museum

History Collector

Built from 1705, Château Ramezay Museum is a historic monument well-established inside Montreal’s landscape. It was first the residence of Claude de Ramezay, who was at the time Montreal’s Governor, and had many other owners in the years that followed until Société d’archéologie et de numismatique de Montréal decided to make it a museum in 1895. The Château has been a prime witness of more than 300 years of Montreal’s history. It is thus not surprising that the Museum owns a collection of some 30 000 objects (not all objects of the collection are exhibited) including works of art, medals, coins, old newspapers, 19^th and 20^th century photography as well as ethnological objects from Quebec's and the First Nations’ past. As the oldest private history museum in Quebec, the Château Ramezay Museum has given itself the mission to preserve, highlight and give access to a collection centred on the Montreal and Quebec history.

Spring Exhibitions

Two temporary exhibits will particularly get your attention this spring. The first one called Lace Up focuses on the thousand-year-old history of skating. From figure skating to speed skating and ice hockey, you will discover the origin and evolution of this activity loved by Canadians. The exhibition is presented until March 29, 2009.

Also, cycling fans will surely not want to miss The Great Bike Tour, a one-of-a-kind exhibition paying tribute to this marvellous mean of transport for the 25^th Anniversary of Tour de l’Île de Montréal. Held from May 5 to September 7, 2009, the exhibition will present the evolution of bikes of the past and present from the famous Penny-farthing to the new Bixi (the Bixi is the all-new self-service bike which will be introduced in May in Montreal).