Nuns' Island
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Nuns' Island Île des Sœurs |
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| Neighbourhood | |
Skyline of the southern tip of Nuns' Island
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| Coordinates: 45°27′40″N 73°32′36″W / 45.46111°N 73.54333°W | |
| Country |
 Canada
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| Province |
 Quebec
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| City | Montreal |
| Borough | Verdun |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3.74 km2 (1.44 sq mi) |
| Population (2011 ) | |
| • Total | 18,315 |
| • Density | 4,897.1/km2 (12,683/sq mi) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
Nuns' Island (officially Île des Sœurs; French pronunciation: [il de sœʁ]) is an island located in the Saint Lawrence River that forms a part of the city of Montreal, Quebec. It is part of the borough of Verdun.
The island is primarily composed of residential apartments, condos and row houses.
Originally called Île Saint-Paul in honour of the founder of Montreal, Paul Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve, the island was initially acquired by 1634 by Jean de Lauzon, future governor of New France. The island was included in the expansive seigneurie of La Citière on the south shore of the St. Lawrence. In 1664 he ceded the island in three equal parts to three prominent citizens of Ville-Marie: Jacques Le Ber, sieur de Saint-Paul et Senneville; Claude Robutel de Saint-André, sieur de La Noue; and Jean de la Vigne, who transferred his portion to Jacques Le Ber's sister Marie in 1668. She in turn sold her share to her brother, leaving the island divided between the seigneuries of Saint-Paul and La Noue.
The nuns of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame acquired the seigneurie de La Noue in 1706. Following the British conquest, the other seigneurie was auctioned; the nuns purchased it too in 1769, becoming the sole owners of the island for the next 250 years. Their ownership would give the island its unofficial name, attested since the early 19th century.
The nuns farmed the island, building houses and agricultural buildings, and later hired women to help with raising livestock. Owing to a dispute between the congregation and the municipality of Verdun over taxes in the late 19th century, the island, which had no fixed link to the Island of Montreal, was made a municipality (L'Île-Saint-Paul) in 1899.
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