Editing Mount Royal (section)

== History ==
[[File:Avenue McGill College 02.jpg|thumb|[[McGill College Avenue]] going from [[Downtown Montreal]] to Mount Royal.]]
The first European to scale the mountain was [[Jacques Cartier]], guided there in 1535 by the people of the village of [[Hochelaga (village)|Hochelaga]]. He named it in honour of his patron, [[Francis I of France]].<ref name=harris>{{cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=Carolyn |date=August 2017 |title=The Queen's land |journal=Canada's History |volume=97 |issue=4 |pages=34–43 |issn=1920-9894 |url=https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/arts-culture-society/the-queen-s-land |access-date=2022-03-20}}</ref> He wrote in his [[Diary|journal]]: "And among these fields is situated and seated the said town of Hochelaga, near to and adjoining a mountain.... We named this mountain Mount Royal."

One theory is that the name of the [[Island of Montréal]] derives from ''Mont Réal'', as the mountain's name was spelled in [[Middle French]] (''Mont Royal'' in Modern French). However, Cartier's 1535 diary entry refers to "le mont Royal." Another argument, mentioned by the [[Government of Canada]] on its website concerning Canadian place names, is that the name Montréal was adopted because a [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] map from 1556 used the Italian name of the mountain, "Monte Real."<ref name=":0">{{cite web|title=Natural Resources Canada, Origins of Geographical Names: Island of Montréal. |url=http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/geography-boundary/geographical-name/geoname-origins/5831 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703070417/https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/geography-boundary/geographical-name/geoname-origins/5831 |archive-date=3 July 2013 }}</ref> The name was first applied to the island and was unofficially applied to the city, formerly named ''Ville-Marie'', by the 18th century.

In 1643, [[Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve]] made a pilgrimage to the top of the mountain to fulfill a vow made in the winter season on occasion of a great flood that swept up to the town palisades.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fDkTAAAAYAAJ |title=Montreal and vicinity: being a history of the old town, a pictorial record of the modern city, its sports and pastimes, and an illustrated description of many charming summer resorts around |access-date=1 January 2012 |author=N.M. Hinshelwood |year=1903 |page=85  }}</ref>

In 1876, land owner and farmer James Swail began planning residential subdivisions on the western slope of Mount Murray, in what is now the [[Cote-des-Neiges]] district. In 1906, a large housing development was started in the area, called Northmount Heights, with homes built along what is now Decelles Street by developer Northmount Land Company. Much of this area has since been expropriated by the [[Université de Montréal]].<ref name=Northmount>{{cite web|title=Publicité de la Northmount Land|url=http://www.cjecdn.qc.ca/bibliotheque/societe/12-dev/12a-a72.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040702012117/http://www.cjecdn.qc.ca/bibliotheque/societe/12-dev/12a-a72.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2004-07-02|work=1698–1998 CÔTE-DES-NEIGES AU FIL DU TEMPS|language=fr}}</ref>

In 1914–1918, the [[Mount Royal Tunnel]] was dug under the mountain by the [[Canadian Northern Railway]], a predecessor of the [[Canadian National Railway]]. It is currently used by the [[Réseau express métropolitain]].

The area was briefly considered as a candidate for the site of [[Expo 67]] before the exposition grounds were ultimately [[Expo 67#Construction begins|built on adjoining islands]] in the [[Saint Lawrence River]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-69-100-526/life_society/expo_67/clip1 |title=Did You Know? |access-date=20 February 2008 |work=Montreal gets the call, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.ca }}</ref>

The hilly roads of the park have been used for cycle racing since the 1970s, hosting the [[1974 UCI Road World Championships|1974 UCI Road Cycling World Championships]], the [[Cycling at the 1976 Summer Olympics|individual road race cycling]] event at the [[1976 Summer Olympics]], and the subsequent annual races of [[Coupe du Monde Cycliste Féminine de Montréal]] (1998–2009) and [[Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal]] (2010–present).<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 May 2003 |title=www.cyclingnews.com presents the 6th Montreal World Cup |url=http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2003/worldcup03/montreal03/?id=default |access-date=2025-02-03 |website=autobus.cyclingnews.com |quote=The race uses most of the course of the 1974 World road championships (won by Eddy Merckx) and the 1976 Olympic games road race (won by the Swedish Bernt Johansson).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Grands Prix Cyclistes |url=https://gpcqm.ca/ |access-date=2023-09-22 |website=Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec et de Montréal |language=fr-FR}}</ref>