Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery facts for kids
Front entrance, Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery
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| Details | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1854 |
| Location | |
| Type | Originally Roman Catholic, open to all Christian burials |
| Style | Rural cemetery |
| Size | 343 acres (139 ha) |
| No. of graves | 65,000+ |
| No. of interments | 1 million |
| Official name: Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery | |
| Designated: | 1999-05-04 |
| Reference #: | 1864 |
The Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (which means "Our Lady of the Snows Cemetery" in French) is a very large cemetery in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was started in 1854. This cemetery covers about 343 acres (that's like 260 football fields!). It's located on the slopes of Mount Royal.
This cemetery is the biggest in Canada. It's also the third-largest in all of North America.
Contents
History of Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery
The Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery was created because the old cemetery in Montreal was too small. Montreal was growing fast, and more space was needed for burials. The land for the new cemetery was bought from Dr. Pierre Beaubien.
It was designed in 1854 to be a "garden cemetery." This means it was planned to look like a beautiful park with lots of trees and green spaces. The design was made by Henri-Maurice Perreault. On May 29, 1855, Jane Gilroy McCready was the first person buried here.
Size and Scope
Notre Dame des Neiges is truly huge. It has more than 55 kilometers (about 34 miles) of roads and paths inside. Over one million people have been buried or placed here. There are also more than 65,000 monuments and 71 family vaults.
A Place for Many Cultures
This cemetery was first made for Roman Catholics and French Canadians. But over time, it became a resting place for many different groups. You can find graves of people from Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Greek Orthodox, Polish, Ukrainian, and Huron backgrounds. Their gravestones often show symbols from their cultures.
The cemetery is right next to other cemeteries on Mount Royal. These include the Mount Royal Cemetery (mostly for English-speaking Protestants), the Shaar Hashomayim Cemetery (for Jewish people), and the Temple Emanu-El Cemetery (also for Jewish people). Together, these four cemeteries hold about 1.5 million burials.
Special Features and Recognition
Inside the cemetery, you can find "La Pietà Mausoleum." A mausoleum is a building where people are buried above ground. This one has a life-sized marble copy of Michelangelo's famous "Pietà" sculpture. The original sculpture is in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City.
Because of its importance, Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery was named a National Historic Site of Canada in 1998. This means it's a special place recognized for its history.
Finding Your Way Around
Since the cemetery is so big, finding a specific grave can be tricky. To help visitors, the cemetery now has a special computer system. You can use a touch screen at the cemetery or check online to quickly find where someone is buried.
Honoring War Heroes
There's a special place where the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery meets the Mount Royal Cemetery. Here, you'll find two military sections side-by-side. After World War I, a passage was made between the two sections. This showed that soldiers, whether Catholic or Protestant, fought and sacrificed together.
A special monument called the Cross of Sacrifice stands here. It honors 445 soldiers from the Commonwealth who died in wars. This includes 252 from World War I and 215 from World War II. If a soldier's grave couldn't be marked, their name is on bronze plaques on the Cross of Sacrifice.
Modern Mausoleums
A mausoleum is a building that holds many burial spaces called crypts. Some also have columbaria, which are walls with small spaces (niches) for urns containing ashes after cremation.
The first mausoleum at Notre Dame des Neiges was built in 1978 and is called Notre Dame. Over the years, more mausoleums have been added. These include John-Paul II (1980), Saint-Francis (1982), Marguerite-Bourgeoys (1983), The Pietà (1985), Saints Peter and Paul (1989), Sainte Clare of Assisi (1994), and the two-story Saint Marguerite d’Youville (1996).
The Esther Blondin Mausoleum opened in 2007. It is named after the founder of the Sisters of Saint Anne. This large building has space for 6,000 burials and urns.
Images for kids
Famous People Buried Here
Many important people are buried at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery. This includes former mayors of Montreal and other well-known figures:
- René Angélil (1942–2016), manager, husband of Canadian singer Céline Dion
- William H. Atherton MBE (1867–1950), writer, historian, academic and scholar
- Raoul Barré (1874–1932), cartoonist
- Jean-Louis Beaudry (1809–1886), entrepreneur, politician
- Joseph Béland (1843–1929), politician
- Trefflé Berthiaume (1848–1915), politician
- Bernard Bissonnette (1898–1964), politician
- Richard Blass (1945–1975), criminal
- Charlotte Boisjoli (1923–2001), writer, actress
- Tancrède Boucher de Grosbois (1846–1926), physician and politician
- Henri Bourassa (1868–1952), politician, publisher
- Robert Bourassa (1933–1996), Premier of Quebec
- Pierre Bourgault (1943–2003), politician, intellectual
- Romuald Bourque (1889–1974), businessman and politician
- Arthur Boyer (1851–1922), politician
- François-Philippe Brais (1894–1972), lawyer, politician
- Dino Bravo (1948–1993), WWF wrestler
- Donald Brittain (1928–1989), film director
- Gilles Carle (1928–2009), film director
- Ken Carter (1938–1983), stuntman
- Thérèse Forget Casgrain (1896–1981), feminist, reformer and stateswoman
- Joseph Cattarinich (1881–1938), hockey player and businessman
- Lorne Chabot (1900–1946), NHL ice-hockey goalie
- Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau (1840–1898), lawyer, publisher, politician
- Ernest Cormier (1885–1980), architect
- Vincenzo Cotroni (1911–1984), mobster
- Léo Dandurand (1889–1964), businessman and hockey coach
- Alexandre-Maurice Delisle (1810–1880), businessman, statesman
- Jérémie-Louis Décarie (1870–1927), politician
- Alphonse Desjardins (1854–1920), founder of the Desjardins financial coops
- Bernard Devlin (1824–1880), politician
- General Jacques Dextraze (1919–1993), Chief of Defence Staff Canada 1972–1977
- Jean Drapeau (1916–1999), Mayor of Montreal
- Lewis Thomas Drummond (1813–1882), jurist, politician
- Charles Duquette (1869–1937), mayor of Montreal (1924–1926)
- Ludger Duvernay (1799–1852), founder of Quebec's Société St-Jean-Baptiste
- Edmond Dyonnet (1859–1954), painter
- Pierre Falardeau (1946–2009), film director, screenwriter, writer
- Marcel Faribault (1908–1972), notary and legislative adviser
- Claire Fauteux (1889–1988), painter
- Gérald Fauteux (1900–1980), Chief Justice of Canada
- Amédée-Emmanuel Forget (1847–1923), Lieutenant-Governor of the Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan
- Louis-Joseph Forget (1853–1911), financier and president of the Montreal Stock Exchange.
- Sir Rodolphe Forget (1861–1919), financier, statesman, president of the Montreal Stock Exchange.
- Joseph-Achille Francoeur (1882–1959), politician
- Clarence Gagnon (1881–1942), painter, engraver, illustrator
- Jean Gascon (1921–1988), stage and film actor/director
- Roger Gaudry (1913–2001), chemist, businessman, and rector of the Université de Montréal
- Conrad Gauthier (1886–1964), singer/songwriter
- Joseph Gauthier (1877–1934), politician
- Gratien Gélinas (1904–1999), actor, author, playwright
- Sir Lomer Gouin, (1861–1929), Lieutenant-Governor and Premier of Quebec
- Robert Gravel (1945–1996), actor
- Joseph Guibord (1809–1869), patriot, buried through a court order in the Guibord case
- Doug Harvey (1924–1989), ice-hockey Hall of Fame defenceman
- Louis-Philippe Hébert (1850–1917), sculptor
- Camillien Houde (1889–1958), statesman, Mayor of Montreal
- Harry Hyland (1889–1969), Hall of Fame ice-hockey player
- Henri Julien (1852–1908), lithographer, painter, illustrator, caricaturist, reporter
- Charles Laberge (1827–1874), journalist and politician
- Eugène Lafontaine (1857–1935), politician
- Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine (1807–1864), jurist, politician
- Alfred Laliberté (1878–1953), sculptor
- Pierre Laporte (1921–1970), statesman assassinated by FLQ terrorists
- Calixa Lavallée (1842–1891), composer of "O Canada"
- René Lecavalier (1918–1999), sports commentator
- J. Louis Lévesque (1911–1994) stockbroker, philanthropist, horse racing builder
- Jean-Claude Malépart (1938–1989), politician
- Joséphine Marchand (1861–1925), journalist and women's rights activist
- Nick Auf der Maur (1942–1998), journalist, politician
- André Mathieu (1929–1968), composer
- Charles Mayer (1901–1971), journalist, sportsperson and politician
- John Wait McGauvran (1827–1884), businessman and politician
- Thomas D'Arcy McGee (1825–1868), journalist, statesman, Father of Confederation
- Honoré Mercier (1840–1894), statesman
- Arthur Mignault (1865–1937), pharmaceutical entrepreneur, colonel of the RCAMC, founder of the Royal 22e Régiment
- Pierre-Basile Mignault (1878–1929) Puisne Justice Supreme Court of Canada
- Jos Montferrand (1802–1864), strong man
- Denise Morelle (1926–1984), actress
- Pierre Nadeau (1936–2019), Canadian journalist, television presenter and producer
- Émile Nelligan (1879–1941), poet
- Robert Nelson (1794–1873), medical practitioner, statesman
- John Ostell (1813–1892), architect
- Gédéon Ouimet (1823–1905), lawyer, politician, Premier of the Province of Quebec
- Philippe Panneton (1895–1960), writer, physician, diplomat
- Denis-Émery Papineau (1819–1899), politician
- Jean Papineau-Couture (1916–2000), composer
- Alice Poznanska-Parizeau (1930–1990), writer
- Damase Parizeau (1841–1915), politician
- Lise Payette (1931–2018), politician
- Pierre Péladeau (1925–1997), businessman, media mogul
- Denise Pelletier (1923–1976), actress
- Narcisse Pérodeau (1851–1932), lawyer, law professor, politician, Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Quebec
- Maurice Perrault (1857–1909), architect and politician
- Maurice Richard (1921–2000), Hall of Fame ice-hockey player
- Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923–2002), painter and sculptor
- Yvon Robert, (1914–1971), professional wrestler
- Jean "Johnny" Rougeau (1929–1983), professional wrestler
- Jeanne Sauvé (1922–1993), politician and Governor-General of Canada
- Idola Saint-Jean (1875–1945), journalist and women's rights advocate
- Lhasa de Sela (1972–2010), singer-songwriter
- Lord Thomas George Shaughnessy (1853–1923), President of CPR
- Henri-Thomas Taschereau Chief justice of Quebec (1907–1909), journalist, politician, and judge; b. 6 October 1841
- Louis-Olivier Taillon (1840–1923), Quebec Premier (1892–1896)
- Mary Travers, "La Bolduc" (1894–1941), singer
- Paolo Violi (1931–1978), mobster
- Charles Wilson (1808–1877), businessman, mayor of Montreal
- Joseph-Marcellin Wilson (1859–1940), financier, philanthropist, statesman
See also
In Spanish: Cementerio Notre-Dame-des-Neiges para niños
