Redpath Museum

The Redpath Museum in Montreal is a major natural history museum located in the northwest part of the McGill University campus. The building, which opened in 1882, is the oldest in Canada designed from the start as a museum. Its architecture combines Victorian elements with classical Greek forms. The museum owes its founding to a donation from sugar baron Peter Redpath, with Sir William Dawson serving as its first director. Originally, the building mainly served the needs of the university before it was opened to the general public in 1952. After a period of closure between 1971 and 1986 due to financial constraints, the museum is once again an important cultural destination today, housing nearly three million specimens and artifacts.

You can explore the collection across several levels. On the ground floor, one hall is devoted to the return of living creatures from land to sea. The second floor houses the Dawson Gallery, which focuses on the natural history of the province of Quebec, as well as the Hodgson Gallery with an extensive collection of shells. On the third floor, you'll find the ethnological and archaeological holdings, which are among the oldest of their kind in North America. Among other things, they include Egyptian mummies and exhibits from every continent except North America. In addition to the indoor galleries, an outdoor geological garden invites you to view numerous minerals and fossils. The museum is also actively involved in research, publishing, and student education.