Bell tower of the Saint-Sauveur Church

It probably feels strange to come face-to-face with a lonely bell tower, seemingly standing out of place right next to the sleek modern buildings of the CHUM—Montreal’s University Health Center. Yet, this is the only remaining piece of the former Saint-Sauveur Church, which was demolished in 2011 to make room for the expansion of Quebec’s largest academic hospital complex. This vast center came to life in the late 1990s through the merger of three historic Montreal hospitals: the Hôtel-Dieu, founded in 1642 by Jeanne Mance; Hôpital Notre-Dame, established in 1880; and Hôpital Saint-Luc, founded in 1908. Today, the surviving bell tower stands as a silent reminder of the site’s spiritual past, now surrounded by buildings devoted to healing and science.