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Formerly a Catholic cemetery, Square Dorchester is a leafy spot right in the centre of downtown that is as good a place as any to get your bearings - the Art Deco-inspired Dominion Square Building on the north side of the square is the site of the Infotouriste office (daily: June to early Sept 7am-8pm; early Sept to May 9am-6pm) and the starting point for various guided bus tours. The park also hosts occasional lunchtime concerts in summer, and in good weather the office blocks around the square empty their personnel onto the park benches for a snack and a chat. The oldest building here is the Victorian St George's Anglican Church (May-Sept Tues-Sun 8.30am-5.30pm), with an impressive tapestry used at the queen's coronation in Westminster Abbey in 1953. The southern half of the square is partitioned off as Place du Canada , which commemorates the 1967 centennial. Dwarfed by its high-rise neighbours, the Basilique-Cathedrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde (daily: Mon 7am-8pm, Tues-Fri 7am-7.15pm, Sat 8am-8pm, Sun 9.30am-7.15pm; free) was commissioned by Bishop Ignace Bourget as a reminder that Catholicism still dominated the largest city in the new Dominion of Canada. Impressed by St Peter's while visiting Rome, Bourget created a scaled-down replica of the famous church. While the statues crowning St Peter's facade are of the Apostles, the thirteen statues atop its smaller cousin represent the patron saints of the parishes that donated them. The inside is not as opulent as one might expect, though the high altar of marble, onyx and ivory is surmounted by a gilded copper reproduction of Bernini's baldachin over the altar in St Peter's. To your right on entering is the Chapelle des Souvenirs , which contains various relics, including the wax-encased remains of the immensely obscure St Zoticus. In 1996 the city's ice-hockey team, the Montreal Canadiens, moved into their new home, a 21,000-seat amphitheatre billed as the most modern in North America - Centre Molson , at 1260 rue de la Gauchetiere ouest. The centre is also the venue for rock concerts, classical-music performances and family entertainment. English guided tours take place daily at 11am and 2pm ($7). If you fancy a puck souvenir or a new T-shirt, check out The Canadiens' Souvenir Boutique (Mon-Wed 9.30am-6pm, Thurs & Fri 9.30am-9pm, Sat 9.30am-5pm) inside. A few blocks west of the Molson Centre, the Centre Canadien d'Architecture , 1920 rue Baile (June-Sept Tues-Wed & Fri-Sun 11am-6pm, Thurs 11am-9pm; Oct-May Wed & Fri 11am-6pm, Thurs 11am-9pm; Sat & Sun 11am-5pm; www.cca.qc.ca ; $6, free after 5.30pm Thurs) inhabits a wonderfully sleek building with a curiously windowless facade and vast glass doors that open smoothly with the least amount of effort. The Peter Rose design incorporates the beautifully restored Shaughnessy Mansion (the former residence of a president of the Canadian Pacific Railway) and its Art Nouveau conservatory, while the light-filled galleries display the museum's vast collection of prints, drawings and books in exhibitions ranging from individual masters to whole movements from all cultures and periods. Behind the museum on the south side of boulevard Rene-Levesque, on an area known as the Dorchester Plateau, are the whimsical CCA Sculpture Gardens (daily: 6am-midnight; free). This whole area, once full of rambling villas like the Shaughnessy Mansion, was ripped apart in 1969 for the construction of the Autoroute Ville-Marie, and the gardens have restored pride in what was until recently a derelict area. Designed by prominent Montreal artist and architect Melvin Charney, the sculptures are a wacky mishmash of architectural references, arranged in a way reminiscent of ancient stone circles.
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