Ville-Marie

Canada Post Corporation is proud to support CANADA 92, World Philatelic Youth Exhibition organized by the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada, with the participation of the Férération québécoise de philatélie and under the patronage of the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie. The event is being held at the Palais de Congrès in Montreal from March 25-29, aiding in the celebrations surrounding the 350th anniversary of the founding of the city. On opening day, four commemorative stamps and a companion souvenir sheet will be issued depicting the exhibition's theme: Exploration and Discovery. Two 42-cent se tenant stamps will focus on the 350th anniversary of the founding of Montreal, while a 48-cent will honour explorer Jacques Cartier and a 84-cent value will pay tribute to Christopher Columbus on the 500th anniversary of his discovery of America. The City of Montreal was founded on May 18, 1642 by some three dozen settlers from France led by Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve. They named it Ville-Marie, in honour of the Virgin Mary. Gradually the settlers' fort expanded into a group of grey stone buildings and narrow streets to become the metropolis of Montreal. Although de Maisonneuve is considered the founder of Montreal, he was the governor from 1642 to 1665, the initiator of the original settlement was Jérôme Le Royer de la Dauversiere, known in France for both his charitable and religious works. In May 1641, two ships left La Rochelle in France carrying the new settlers, including de Maisonneuve and other founders such as Jeanne Mance, the first secular nurse in Canada. After wintering in Quebec, the brave settlers journeyed in the spring to their new home on an island far up the St. Lawrence River. The founding of Montreal would have been impossible without the moral and financial assistance of La Société Notre-Dame de Montréal, founded by La Dauversière, among others, for the conversion of "Les Sauvages". Early Indian raids were plentiful and the small colony was constantly under Iroquois attack. But by the time de Maisonneuve returned to France in 1665, were he died in 1676 at the age of 64, Montreal had become the administrative hub of a fur trading empire and was the commercial capital of Nouvelle-France.