Montréal Underground City

The Montréal Underground City is a pedestrian network stretching roughly 32 kilometers beneath downtown, connecting office towers, shopping centers, metro stations, and commercial buildings together. The corridors are temperature-controlled, allowing people to travel between different areas without reaching street level.

Construction began in 1962 with Place Ville Marie and gradually grew into a large underground system. The expansion later connected Central Station with other important downtown areas, creating an extensive subterranean infrastructure beneath the city center.

The network hosts several museums and art spaces, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, where visitors encounter rotating exhibitions while moving through the passages. The corridors themselves serve as venues for cultural events and performances, turning the underground into an active gathering place.

The network has over 120 entry points and is used daily by tens of thousands of people, making it important to get a sense of the basic layout. It helps to grab a map or pay attention to signage, as the passages can feel confusing quickly.

The system runs partly under streets and partly under buildings, with some corridors spanning multiple levels to navigate the city's topography. This vertical variety makes getting around an unexpected three-dimensional experience.