Montreal Biodome

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Biodôme de Montreal (Montreal Biodome)

View from the tower of the Olympic Stadium
Location	Montreal, Quebec, CAN
Coordinates	45°33′35″N, 73°32′59″W
Accreditations/ Memberships	AZA
Website
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The Montreal Biodome (Biodôme de Montreal) is a facility located in Montreal that allows visitors to walk through replicas of four ecosystems found in the Americas. The building was originally constructed for the 1976 Olympic Games as a velodrome. It hosted both cycling and judo events. Renovations on the building began in 1989 and in 1992 the indoor nature exhibit was opened.

1 Biodome exhibits
2 Building History
3 Biosphère
4 Gallery
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Biodome exhibits

The facility allows visitors to walk through replicas of four ecosystems found in the Americas:

The Tropical Forest is a replica of the South American rainforest.
The Laurentian Forest is a replica of the North American wilderness.
The Saint Lawrence Marine Eco-system is an estuary habitat modeled on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
A polar area that is divided into Arctic and Antarctic.

All the exhibits are housed inside the velodrome (cycling stadium) that was used for the cycling and judo events of the 1976 Summer Olympics, with each of the four environments taking up a portion of the stadium. A variety of animals live in each simulated habitat, ranging from the macaws in the Tropical Forest, to the lynx in the Laurentian Forest, to the penguins in the Antarctic and the different kinds of fish that inhabit the waters of the Saint Lawrence River.

This is one of the city's most popular tourist attractions, along with the Montreal Botanical Garden, Montreal Planetarium and the Montreal Insectarium.;)

[edit] Building History

The building was designed by French architect Roger Taillibert as part of his much larger plan for a massive Olympic park. He also designed the Montreal Olympic Stadium, located next door to the facility.

[edit] Biosphère

The Biodome should not be confused with the Biosphère, a Montreal museum about the St. Lawrence river located inside the geodesic dome that once housed the American pavilion for Expo 67. It was once called the Velodome and was a place for cyclist olympics. It wasn't an animal and plant conservation/research center until 1992. The Biodome is neither spherical nor a geodesic dome.

[edit] Gallery

The Biodome, in front of the Olympic Stadium

Inside the Biodome (polar area)

[edit] See also

Bio-Dome, the film
Biosphere 2, the attempt to create a self-contained ecological system

[edit] External links

Biodome Website (English version)
The Biodome's Penguin-Cam
Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 45.559722° -73.549722°
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA

Montreal landmarks
Buildings	Biodome \| Biosphère \| Bell Centre \| Canadian Centre for Architecture \| Montreal Casino \| Complexe Desjardins \| Montreal Forum \| Grande Bibliothèque du Québec \| Habitat '67 \| Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral \| McCord Museum \| Montreal Science Centre \| Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica \| Olympic Stadium \| Palais des congrès de Montréal \| Place des Arts \| Place Ville-Marie \| Redpath Museum \| Saint Joseph's Oratory \| Tour de la Bourse \| Underground City \| World Trade Centre Montreal
Neighbourhoods	Chinatown \| Old Montreal \| Old Port \| Quartier international de Montréal
Nature and Parks	Jardin botanique de Montréal \| Mount Royal
Islands	Île Bizard \| Island of Montreal \| Île Notre-Dame \| Nuns' Island \| Saint Helen's Island
Transportation	Montréal-Mirabel International Airport \| Montreal Metro \| Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport \| Windsor Station \| Central Station