On This Day May 17

The Société Notre-Dame de Montréal founded a permanent mission known as Ville-Marie (or "City of Mary”) on May 17, 1642, which eventually grew into the city of Montreal. The name 'Montréal' comes from Mont Royal, which means 'Royal Mountain' in French. At the center of Montreal is a mountain called Mount Royal). Montreal was originally a fur trading outpost belonging to France. It grew to become the largest city in Canada. (Toronto surpassed it in the 1970s.)

Depiction of the first church in Fort Ville-Marie in the 1640s.

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