Montreal is steeped in architectural history, from the pale-gray cut stones of the Old Port to the modernist towers of downtown, and the red-brick condos with metal staircases of Mile End.
You can’t get a matcha to go on a Sunday morning without passing at least three architecturaleras , and the mix is characteristic of the city… but not really of the region.
Quebec has been a region of agriculture, commerce and transportation (especially river transport) since the arrival of the settlers in “New France”. And, just a 50-minute drive from downtown Montreal, you can travel back in time to the 1800s with a heritage tour of the village of Saint-Marc-sur-Richelieu…
Saint-Marc-sur-Richelieu
The Richelieu Valley (around the Richelieu River), in the Montérégie region, is one of the best-preserved areas in Quebec for buildings – and village community life. There are several heritage circuits (cycling, walking, driving) exploring the region’s past.
And like Saint-Antoine-de-Richelieu, the village of Saint-Marc-sur-Richelieu pampers its history and heritage houses – with small flower gardens, bicentennial trees, oat bran muffins (you know the ones) and sidelong glances if you talk too long to the cellar in public. An absolute dream!
Historical tour
You can take a tour (by bike or on foot) of the Saint-Marc-sur-Richelieu heritage circuit, and see 26 houses and buildings dating from 1700-1800, with the heritage circuit available online here!
For those who really love the period, we recommend a photoshoot in a long dress with a bridgerton haircut or a period white bonnet, and why not a little wicker basket?
The houses are named after their first inhabitants (Maison Miclette, Maison Couillard etc.) and their profession and use (Maison du Docteur, Beurrerie, Maison du Boulanger etc.). In addition to the hyper-charming visuals, the heritage tour website also gives the age of the house and its history.
There are 1800s houses in colored wood or red brick with white windows and wraparound porches, postcard classics of the farming region, like the Maison Romuald Noël, which was the village’s first post office.
There are also gray cut-stone houses, with red and green roofs, more evocative of the 1700s and Quebec’s bookish past – for example, the Maison Blanchard-Loiselle.
We also recommend a stop at Grenier d’Ernest, an antique shop with period furniture in a period house, to bring home a little piece of history that smells of varnished wood and a little mothballs.
Eat and sleep
You can visit during the day, but you can also eat and sleep in the historic country atmosphere of the area – one thinks a lot of Alice in Wonderland, Anne of Green Gables and 90s English and American historical TV movies…
To eat, we recommend the Auberge Handfield, a country inn – for lunch or dinner, in the ancestral restaurant where you can eat “grandma’s” leg and dumpling stew, lemon-basil roasted scallops or “pouding chômeur” (among others).
You can also sleep in and, after a long day of historical walking, get a massage at the auberge’s spa – les Thermes.
The inn is very popular for weddings, and in early spring is famous for its sugar shack!
The Wine Festival
And on July 6, 2025, Saint-Marc-sur-Richelieu will host the Festival des Vins Champêtre et Riverain, an open-air wine festival in a historic setting on the banks of the Richelieu River…
Enjoy your visit!