La Fontaine Park, Montreal
La Fontaine Park, situated in the Le Plateau-Mont-Royal borough of Montreal, is an urban park spanning 34 hectares (84 acres). It boasts various attractions, including interconnected ponds adorned with a beautiful fountain and cascades, the Théâtre de Verdure outdoor venue, the Calixa-Lavallée cultural center, a monument honoring Adam Dollard des Ormeaux, as well as sports fields and tennis courts.
During the scorching summers of Montreal, the park's ponds are a popular destination, while in winter, they transform into an ice skating haven. Along the park's western and northern edges, visitors can enjoy bike paths.
La Fontaine Park, originally Logan Park, was established in 1874 on the former Logan farm grounds in Montreal. In 1888, significant landscaping took place, including the creation of two basins separated by a bridge designed by Clovis Degrelle. The park was renamed La Fontaine Park in 1901 during the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade to honor Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, the first Francophone Prime Minister of Canada, not because of its fountain as commonly believed.
In 1929, Léon Trépanier created an illuminated fountain for the park's northern basin, commissioned by Westinghouse Electric Company. The monument honoring Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine was also installed. The Théâtre de Verdure, designed by Claude Robillard, opened on July 8, 1956. This venue, inspired by ancient amphitheaters, hosted famous singers like Clémence DesRochers, Raymond Lévesque, Pauline Julien, and Yvon Deschamps under Germaine Dugas' direction in 1965.
La Fontaine Park houses various buildings like École supérieure du Plateau and Calixa Lavallée pavilion. Currently, the park is home to Théâtre de Verdure and Espace La Fontaine cultural café.
During the scorching summers of Montreal, the park's ponds are a popular destination, while in winter, they transform into an ice skating haven. Along the park's western and northern edges, visitors can enjoy bike paths.
La Fontaine Park, originally Logan Park, was established in 1874 on the former Logan farm grounds in Montreal. In 1888, significant landscaping took place, including the creation of two basins separated by a bridge designed by Clovis Degrelle. The park was renamed La Fontaine Park in 1901 during the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade to honor Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, the first Francophone Prime Minister of Canada, not because of its fountain as commonly believed.
In 1929, Léon Trépanier created an illuminated fountain for the park's northern basin, commissioned by Westinghouse Electric Company. The monument honoring Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine was also installed. The Théâtre de Verdure, designed by Claude Robillard, opened on July 8, 1956. This venue, inspired by ancient amphitheaters, hosted famous singers like Clémence DesRochers, Raymond Lévesque, Pauline Julien, and Yvon Deschamps under Germaine Dugas' direction in 1965.
La Fontaine Park houses various buildings like École supérieure du Plateau and Calixa Lavallée pavilion. Currently, the park is home to Théâtre de Verdure and Espace La Fontaine cultural café.
Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Montreal. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.
Download The GPSmyCity App
La Fontaine Park on Map
Sight Name: La Fontaine Park
Sight Location: Montreal, Canada (See walking tours in Montreal)
Sight Type: Park/Outdoor
Sight Location: Montreal, Canada (See walking tours in Montreal)
Sight Type: Park/Outdoor
Walking Tours in Montreal, Canada
Create Your Own Walk in Montreal
Creating your own self-guided walk in Montreal is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Historical Buildings Walking Tour
Whenever you gaze upon the historical buildings of Montreal, you are reminded that the true measure of a city's greatness lies in its ability to preserve its past while embracing its future. Old Montreal – home to four centuries of architecture shaped by French sophistication and English practicality – is a place all its own.
Here, modern buildings coexist with some of the oldest and... view more
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.8 Km or 2.4 Miles
Here, modern buildings coexist with some of the oldest and... view more
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.8 Km or 2.4 Miles
The RMS Titanic Walking Tour
Built as the ship of dreams, the RMS Titanic went down in history as the one that carried “both the hopes and the tragedies of a generation.” The luxury cruiser sank on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic in the early hours of April 15, 1912, and today is largely remembered throughout the world, in part, due to the blockbuster movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
Although Montreal's... view more
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.5 Km or 2.2 Miles
Although Montreal's... view more
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.5 Km or 2.2 Miles
Old Montreal Walking Tour
Old Montreal (Vieux-Montréal) is a historic neighborhood southeast of the downtown area, home to many architectural monuments of the New France era. Founded by French settlers in 1642 as Fort Ville-Marie, the settlement gave its name to the city borough of which it is now part.
Most of Montreal's earliest architecture, characterized by uniquely French influence, including grey stone... view more
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.3 Km or 2.1 Miles
Most of Montreal's earliest architecture, characterized by uniquely French influence, including grey stone... view more
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.3 Km or 2.1 Miles
Historical Churches Walking Tour
The religious fervor that inspired French settlers in the mid-17th century to build a “Christian commonwealth” on North American soil gave rise to a number of churches, chapels, and cathedrals. Each sacred edifice in Montreal's ecclesiastical panorama – notably, in its religion- and architecture-infused oldest area, Vieux-Montréal – is a testament to the divine craftsmanship and... view more
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 4.2 Km or 2.6 Miles
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 4.2 Km or 2.6 Miles
Montreal Introduction Walking Tour
The second-most populous city in Canada, Montreal is an old, yet at the same time, modern metropolis, flagship of Canada's Québec province. Sitting on an island in the Saint Lawrence River, with Mount Royal at its center, the city owes its name to this triple-peaked hill (Mont Royal in modern French, although in 16th-century French the forms réal and royal were used interchangeably).
The... view more
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.6 Km or 2.2 Miles
The... view more
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.6 Km or 2.2 Miles
Useful Travel Guides for Planning Your Trip
Montreal Souvenirs: 15 Trip Mementos to Bring Home
The outpost of Frenchness in North America (and the world's 2nd largest francophone city after Paris), Montreal is the meeting point of the New and Old World styles, the collision of the French, English and Aboriginal cultures. The historical and ethnic uniqueness of the city is seen throughout...