Hochelaga (village)

Hochelaga
Village
Model of the Iroquoian village of Hochelaga, from the descriptions of Jacques Cartier and other Quebec archaeological sites.
Model of the Iroquoian village of Hochelaga, from the descriptions of Jacques Cartier and other Quebec archaeological sites.
Map
Coordinates: 45°30′N 73°40′W / 45.500°N 73.667°W / 45.500; -73.667
CountryCanada
ProvinceQuebec
RegionMontreal
Established?
Dissolved16th century
Highest elevation
233 m (764 ft)
Lowest elevation
6 m (20 ft)
Time zoneUTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
[1]
Official nameHochelaga National Historic Site of Canada
Designated1920

Hochelaga (French pronunciation: [ɔʃlaɡa]) was a St. Lawrence Iroquois 16th century fortified village on or near Mount Royal in present-day Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Jacques Cartier arrived by boat on October 2, 1535; he visited the village on the following day. He was greeted well by the Iroquois, and named the mountain he saw nearby Mount Royal.[2] Several names in and around Montreal and the Hochelaga Archipelago can be traced back to him.

A stone marker commemorating the former village was placed in 1925 on land adjacent to McGill University. It is believed to be in the vicinity of the village visited by Cartier in 1535.[3] The site of the marker is designated a National Historic Site of Canada.[4]

The name of the village survives in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, the name of a neighbourhood of Montreal; a variant spelling survives in Montreal's contemporary Osheaga Festival.

  1. ^ G. B. Ramusio, Delle Navigationi et Viaggi
  2. ^ Harris, Carolyn (August 2017). "The Queen's land". Canada's History. 97 (4): 34–43. ISSN 1920-9894.
  3. ^ This memorial commemorates the site of the fortified town of Hochelaga which was visited by Jacques Cartier. The memorial was erected in 1925 by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. Archived October 21, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Hochelaga. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved August 1, 2011.