Saint Catherine Street

thumbnail|A general view of Sainte-Catherine.

Sainte-Catherine Street ( ) () is the primary commercial artery of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It crosses the central business district from west to east, beginning at the corner of Claremont Avenue and de Maisonneuve Boulevard in Westmount, and ending at the Grace Dart Extended Care Centre by Assomption metro station, where it folds back into Notre-Dame Street. It also traverses Ville-Marie, passing just east of Viau in Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. The street is 11.2 km long, and considered the backbone of Downtown Montreal.

A series of interconnected office tower basements and shopping complexes line the street, parallel to the largest segments of Montreal's underground city. Educational institutions located on or near the street include Concordia University, McGill University, Université du Québec à Montréal, Dawson College and LaSalle College.

Nine metro stations serve as access to Sainte-Catherine Street, whereby it passes through residential neighbourhoods, the Quartier des spectacles and the downtown core. It also offers ease of access to the Underground Pedestrian Network.

History

Sainte-Catherine Street has been a major landmark in Montreal for over a century. However, it is not known exactly when it was built as it was never part of a city plan. Instead, it just happened to be a highly frequented street. The street particularly began to grow after 1736.

At the end of the 19th century, English merchants set up shop along the western portion of the street. This led to a surge in department stores in Philips Square.

By 1850, horse-drawn streetcars habitually lined the street. Later in 1864, the first electric-powered tramway—provided by the Montreal City Passenger Railway—was introduced .

In 1890, evening entertainment began to boom, with both English and French theatres, as well as the Academy of Music, lining the street near the intersection with Victoria Avenue.

Other major retailers along the street include an Apple Store, AVEDA Experience Centre, Indigo Books and Music, Archambault, La Senza, Best Buy, Roots, Adidas, Puma, Guess, Parasuco, Zara, and an H&M flagship store at the corner of Peel and St. Catherine. Additionally, many of Montreal's most prominent shopping complexes, including the Eaton Centre, Complexe Les Ailes, Place Montreal Trust, Promenades Cathédrale, les Cours Mont-Royal, the Complexe Desjardins, Place Dupuis, Place Alexis Nihon, the Faubourg Sainte-Catherine and Westmount Square are all located along the street.

In 1916, The Hartt Shoe Company opened its Canadian flagship store at 467 St. Catherine Street (then a nationally prominent brand), near Peel Street. The address refers to the street-numbering system used at the time, which was later revised.

The Montreal Forum, once home to the Montreal Canadiens, is also located on St. Catherine Street at Atwater Street. Since its opening, it has been turned into a shopping and movie theatre complex, called the 'Pepsi Forum'. Due to the Forum's presence on this street, St. Catherine was used as the parade route for locals when the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup. This was once referred to as "the usual route" by Mayor Jean Drapeau, during the Canadiens' dynasties of the mid-century, when a win would frequently occur.

The street's segment in the district of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve is also an important commercial area in that neighbourhood.

File:banamtl2.jpg|Banana Republic store at the corner of McGill College Avenue.

File:Viewstc.jpg|Place Montreal Trust shopping centre.

File:H&MdowntownMontreal.jpg|H&M store at the corner of Peel Street.

File:Ogilvy's (Montréal) 2006-01-27.JPG|Ogilvy's department store in Montreal

File:AppleStore Montreal.jpg|Montreal's Apple Store.

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Car-free events

For one weekend in July every year, Saint-Catherine Street hosts Canada's largest open-air sidewalk sale. It is estimated that over 300,000 people visit the downtown during this event. of the street between Jeanne-Mance Street and St. Mark is closed to vehicular traffic, and vendors from nearby shopping centres bring out their sale merchandise. There is also live entertainment along the street.

Culture

thumb|Saint Catherine Street at [[Phillips Square, 1937]]

thumb|left|Former Capitol Theatre, 1925

Montreal's Place des Arts, the city's primary concert venue, the only church in Canada that sits atop a shopping mall, Promenades Cathédrale. Another prominent church, Saint James United Church, has recently had its concealing façade of commercial buildings removed. Other churches on the street include St. James the Apostle Anglican Church.

Gay Village

right|thumb|A partial view along St. Catherine East in Montréal's [[Gay Village, Montreal|Gay Village, with Beaudry metro station at left]]

Montreal's Gay Village () extends along Sainte-Catherine Street in the east end of downtown between Saint-Hubert and Papineau. Beaudry Metro station, on the Green Line, provides the most convenient access to the Village and sports a permanent rainbow decoration on its façade.

For most of the summer—mid-May till mid-September—Sainte-Catherine Street is completely closed to vehicular traffic through the Gay Village. This makes it one large pedestrian area allowing stores to sell outside and restaurants and bars to serve on large, open-air terrasses.

Summer is also punctuated with special events and festivals, such as the art festival FIMA, Festival International Montréal en arts, Pride Celebrations and Divers/Cité.

Parks and Green Spaces

In addition to Phillips and Cabot squares, there are a few green spaces on Sainte-Catherine Street: Dorchester-Clarke and Landsdowne parks in Westmount, Place Émilie-Gamelin next to the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Jos -Montferrand, Edmond-Hamelin Park and Morgan Park.

Gallery

File:Tramway Montreal 1893.jpg|Sainte-Catherine at Saint Laurent Boulevard in 1893

File:Angle du boulevard Saint-Laurent et de la rue Sainte-Catherine Montreal 1905.jpg|Saint Lawrence and Saint Catherine Streets, 1905.

File:Montréal 1930.jpg|In 1930 at Stanley Street

File:Feature. Rush Hour BAnQ P48S1P09126.jpg|In 1943 at Montagne

File:Chapters bookstore and Starbucks café, downtown Montréal 2006-01-27.JPG|Until October 2014, a Chapters bookstore was located inside the Castle Building on the corner of Stanley St.

File:Fogarty Montreal Sainte-Catherine Saint-Laurent.jpg|Fogarty's Factory, corner St. Catherine and St. Lawrence Main Streets, Eugene Haberer, 1871