Along the north side of Rue Notre-Dame Est near Place Jacques-Cartier, three courthouses stand bunched together. The most fetching is the neoclassical Vieux Palais de Justice , Montréal’s old justice palace and oldest courthouse (1856) that’s now an annex of the Hôtel de Ville. It’s a popular backdrop for wedding photos.
The Édifice Ernest Cormier from the 1920s was used for criminal trials before being turned into a conservatory and later a court of appeal. The ugly stepsister is the oversized Palais de Justice , built in 1971 when concrete and smoked glass were all the rage.
