Chateau Ramezay in Montreal

By alantvuong on August 25, 2020

Me and a buddy was in Montreal, Canada last summer to attend îleSoniq Music Festival and also check out some cool attractions in the city. It was my second time visiting the city and didn’t get to see as many things the first time. We stayed at Hotel Travelodge and wanted to check out what is nearby. Chateau Ramezay is a historic site and museum of Montreal, and we got to check it out on one of the days after the music festival.

About The Museum

Chateau Ramezay is located on Notre-Dame Street in Old Montreal across from City Hall. It was built in 1705 and was the residence of then Montreal governor Claude de Ramezay. The Chateau was declared a historic site in 1949 and was the first in Quebec. It is also the province’s oldest private museum.

entrance to Chateau Ramezay

Getting There

Chateau Ramezay was only about a 15 minute walk/stroll from our hotel and we had a great time checking out Old Montreal before visiting the museum. Once we made it to Chateau Ramezay, we immediately saw the 4 steps to get inside the main entrance. We knew the museum was wheelchair accessible since we called beforehand and figured there was a way to get in somehow.

located in Old Montreal area

My buddy went inside to inform staff members of our presence and they came out with foldable ramps. My buddy could have just lifted my manual wheelchair over the steps to bring me in but it was good to know that powerchairs could use the ramps to visit the museum. Adult admission is about $10 and they do offer wheelchair companions free admission with an “Access 2” card through Easter Seals.

staff getting ramp ready

Exhibits

on the main floor

Chateau Ramezay offers lots to see as there are permanent and temporary exhibits to be seen. The 3 permanent exhibits are: Hochelaga Ville-Marie Montreal, Life at the Chateau, and Multimedia Circuit. The temporary exhibit that was playing when we visited was called War Flowers.

antique car

We start off with Hochelaga Ville-Marie Montreal where we get to learn the history of Montreal. There were unique artifacts and antique items like a bicycle and a car. War Flowers was also on the main floor and this exhibit lets us see letters and flowers that are picked by a Canadian soldier who sent them to his family from fields and gardens of a war torn Europe. Each exhibit also featured a button when pressed would release a scent from that flower. It was a bit hard for me to get close enough to smell each flower scent though.

Using an old elevator, Life at the Chateau exhibit was located in the basement of Chateau Ramezay. Here we get to see how each room is recreated to look like how people would live during the 18th century. There weren’t too many people visiting the museum, so we had no problem getting around and didn’t have to wait to see anything. At one display, they had articles of clothing that we could try on to take pictures with.

old elevator to get to the basement

life at the chateau

Garden

The Governor’s Garden is located behind Chateau Ramezay and is free to visit as it is not fenced from the public. It was originally a lot bigger as it has shrunk over the years due to construction of new buildings and roads surrounding Chateau Ramezay. It was very relaxing to visit the garden and all the plants are divided into 3 sections: a kitchen garden, an orchard garden, and a pleasure garden. The garden itself was wheelchair accessible and we didn’t stay here too long.

ramp leading to the garden

Chateau Ramezay was a great little historical wheelchair accessible museum that doesn’t need a whole day to see. We spent just over an hour to see the whole museum and the attached garden at the back. The location right in the heart of Old Montreal was perfect and I would definitely revisit when the temporary exhibits rotate and change through the year.