WHEN IT was founded in 1821, Canada’s oldest university was set on land left for the purpose by fur trader and land speculator James McGill (1744–1813). The university’s main entrance is guarded by the Classical Roddick Gates. Behind them an avenue leads to the domed Neoclassical Arts Building, which is the oldest structure on campus.

The rest of the 70 or so buildings range from the ornately Victorian to the starkly concrete. One of the loveliest is the Redpath Museum of Natural History, which holds one of the city’s most eclectic and eccentric collections.

A huge number of fossils, including a dinosaur skeleton, sit alongside African art, Roman coins, and a shrunken head.