How old is Vieux Montreal and Vieux Quebec? (hotel, construction)

[red4tribe]

I have visited both Montreal and Quebec, and I found the old section of the cities to be delightful. While I know Quebec was founded in 1608 and Montreal is 1642, how old are the majority of the buildings in both Vieux Montreal and Quebec? Do many of them actually date from the 17th or 18th century? Do any of them date from that time period? Or were they built later under British control, as opposed to French. Any links with information regarding my question would be greatly appreciated.

[Acajack]

There are buildings dating back to the French régime (which ended in 1763) but many - probably most - were built after that time. A good number - even those built in the French style - were built ''by'' British origin people, or at least for them by either French Canadian or Irish labourers.

[BIMBAM]

Chateau Ramezay, the seminary, and Hotel Dieu are some prominent buildings in Old Montreal from the French colonial period. It's important to note that alot of the early British period structures were built by the existing French labourers using French construction techniques, so those buildings have alot in common with the earlier French colonial buildings despite French rule having been over. Eventually, as other types of builders joined them, notably the Irish, and British architects joined them, more British influence came into old Montreal mimicking the styles of London, Glasgow and New York. These still often incorporated French ideas, many of them from post Conquest France. Notre Dame Basilica, the district's most notable structure, is a replica of the completely French Notre Dame in Paris, and it was built well into the British period with an Irish Protestant New Yorker architect, so the French element of the district clearly persisted as part of the mix. The Canadian Chateau style of architecture intentionally fused Canadian ethnic influences by combining Scottish Baronial and French Chateau styles. The more common plexes that define Montreal's late 19th and 20th century working and middle class housing styles is also a mix of the Scottish innovation of lowrise stacked flats with the rural French Canadian farmhouse style of curved exterior staircases leading to entrance ways. So Old Montreal is a mix of British, French, and older American styles, but also fuses these styles in many of its buildings.