Bank of Montreal Head Office

{{Short description|Head office of Bank of Montreal in Canada}}

{{about|the Head Office on Saint Jacques Street|the National Historic Site on Notre Dame Street|Bank of Montreal National Historic Site}}

{{Infobox building

| name = Bank of Montreal Head Office
Édifice de la Banque de Montréal

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| image = File:Bank_of_Montreal_Head_Office,_Montréal,_Southeast_view_20170410_1.jpg

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| image_caption = Bank of Montreal's main Montreal branch at Place d'Armes in Old Montreal

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| address = 119, rue Saint-Jacques
Montreal, Quebec
H2Y 1L6

| coordinates = {{coord|45.5049|N|73.5579|W|type:landmark_region:CA|display=inline,title}}

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| current_tenants = Bank of Montreal
Bank of Montreal Museum

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| completion_date = 1847

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| architect = John Wells

| architecture_firm = McKim, Mead & White

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| main_contractor = Anglin-Norcross Ltd. {{Cite web|url=http://dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/node/2492|title=Anglin, James Penrose | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada}}

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The Bank of Montreal's Head Office ({{langx|fr|Édifice de la Banque de Montréal}}) is located on 119, rue Saint Jacques (119, Saint Jacques Street) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, across the Place d'Armes from the Notre-Dame Basilica in the Old Montreal neighbourhood. The Bank of Montreal is the oldest bank in Canada, founded in 1817. Although it still remains the bank's legal headquarters, its operational head office was moved to First Canadian Place in Toronto in 1977 due to political instability in Quebec.

The centrepiece of the complex is the Bank of Montreal Main Branch, a Pantheon-like building designed by John Wells in 1847. The building was inspired by the design of the former headquarters of the Commercial Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh.{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-wells|title=John Wells|last=Epstein|first=Clarence|encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia|publisher=Historica-Dominion|accessdate=19 October 2022}}

The building is in neoclassical style. The sculpted pediment of the building was done by Sir John Steell. The bronze pediment (23 tons, 16-meter wide) was melted in Scotland.{{Cite web |last=Proulx |first=Gilles |date=2016-10-22 |title=La fondation de la Banque de Montréal (1817) |url=https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2016/10/22/la-fondation-de-la-banque-de-montreal-1817 |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=Le Journal de Montréal}} Enlargements to the building were made in 1901–1905 by the New York City firm of McKim, Mead & White.[http://www.vieux.montreal.qc.ca/tour/etape15/eng/15text2a.htm Rue Saint-Jacques, Old Montreal Web site]