The column seen to the right, known as Boaz, stands outside the main entrance of the Montreal Masonic Memorial Temple, home of the Grand Lodge of Quebec. At the top of the column is a terrestrial globe. Opposite Boaz on the other side of the entrance is Jachin, a column surmounted by a celestial globe.
Construction of the Masonic Temple, which is located at the corner of Sherbrooke and St. Marc streets, began in June 1929.
The cornerstone was laid on June 22, 1929, when 2,000 Masons from thirty-six different lodges paraded to the construction site from the old Masonic Temple located on Dorchester Street. The first meeting of the Grand Lodge of Quebec took place in February 1930.
Designed by Scottish-born architect John Smith Archibald, who also designed the Windsor Hotel and the Montreal Forum, among other famous Montreal landmarks, the building was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2006. It is considered one of Canada’s finest buildings of the Beaux-Arts style.