RASCO HOTEL - Montreal

293 Paul East
It started with Francesco Rasco, an Italian, known sometimes as François when speaking with French speaking people and at other moments as Francis with English speakers. He opened first a confectionery and bakery in a building of an Italian fellow at the corner Place Jacques-Cartier and the St-Paul Street. Then he signed an eight year contract with John Molson to be in charge of an hotel at the corner of rue Bonsecours and St-Paul. It was in 1825. The hotel also housed a Masonic Hall and included eighty furnished rooms, a billiard room and a restaurant in the style of the Royal Palace in Paris. The hotel soon was called Masonic Hall Hotel. This happened when John Molson was appointed “venerable porte-épée” of the great Masonic Lodge of the Province of Lower Canada. But the agreement between the two men lasted only one year.

It was between 1834 and 1836 that finally Rasco built his own hotel on St-Paul East Street. It was said to be the most luxurious hotel establishment of the country. A Neo-classical building (that is with items from Greece and ancient Rome architecture), it was the pride of Montreal located in front of the Theatre Royal housed in a wing of the Bonsecours market. Its five floors could receive hosts in 150 rooms. A concert hall, a Ballroom and a high class restaurant were part of the Hotel. Rasco received people of importance like Charles Dickens and his wife in 1842. Dickens took advantage of his stay in Montreal to present a play in the theatre in front of the hotel. Only those invited could see the representation and even Dickens had a role in the play. It was a great success.

In 1844, Francisco Rasco sold his hotel to John Donegani (another Italian) and returned to his native country. As can be expected, fire was part of the history of the building. Today the room occupied by Dickens as well as all the other rooms are unrecognizable. Renovated on several occasions, the building lost little by little its initial style and was stripped of its architectural design. It was vacant between 1960 and 1981. It has even been proposed to demolish it to build a parking lot! Fortunately a bylaw changed all the Old Montreal into a patrimonial area. In 1982, the city took charge of the hotel and restored it.

PLACE JACQUES-CARTIER

It was a trail used by Indians. After the foundation of Ville-Marie (the first name of Montreal) the Marquis de Vaudreuil built a “Castle” which subsequently served as a residence for French Governors and, under the English occupation, used as College for boys. In 1803, a fire destroyed it. Now on the ground, granite tiles trace the location of the Castle and the ancient fortifications.

After the fire, the place became a market. Two days a week, farmers were selling their products. All around, stone buildings were erected, hostels for visitors, shops for various products, artisans’ workshops. At a stone’s throw away, the Bonsecours Market opened its doors in 1847, which led to the disappearance of the Place Jacques-Cartier market. That’s when Place Jacques-Cartier got its name. However farm products were still sold. A few years later, the hotels made their appearance and so did restaurants and shops. Even a shoe factory moved there in 1867. The market survived two days a week until the 1950s as an extension to the Bonsecours market.

Today, the place is always lively, especially in summer course. A kiosk supplies flowers, artists draw cartoons or portraits, animators and acrobats, musicians and craftsmen entertain the tourists. The old buildings host restaurants that offer tempting menus.

But where is Jacques-Cartier? His statue should be here but indeed it is in Saint-Henri Park! In 1893, a patriotic revival resulted in the creation of a monument honoring Jacques-Cartier. Made of welded bronze sheets, water infiltration produced significant damage to the statue that was repaired in 1963. In 1979 it collapsed. In 1992, a copy was put in the park while the original was kept in the Saint-Henri Metro station.

Who is overlooking the Place on the high column? Horacio Nelson. Experienced sailor, after participating in the war of American independence on the British side, he defeated the French fleet in 1798. But he is especially famous for his victory against the Franco-Spanish coalition in Trafalgar, Spain, in 1805 that gave England the military superiority on the seas for a very long time. He died during the fight and was sent back in England in a barrel of brandy. The British Montreal merchants had this monument installed in 1810, some 33 years before the London one! To show their pride, our “British-Canadian” named “Trafalgar” an important building on Côte-des-Neiges, a staircase which faces it and provides access to the mountain, two squares, and an avenue. One is victorious or he is not! All men are equal and therefore all nations. But some are more “equal” than others.

Will one day Jacques-Cartier has his own monument on this place that bears HIS name? To do so will require courage and History will tell us who had it.

GRAND TRONC BUILDING - Montréal