Morrin Centre

I visited the Morrin Centre once, and it turned out to be one of the most memorable experiences I had in Québec City. The building’s layered history — from old prison to college to cultural centre — gives the entire visit a sense of depth and discovery. Walking through the preserved jail cells, the chemistry lab, and the historic corridors feels like stepping into different eras of the city’s past. The guided tour was the highlight. The guides are knowledgeable, engaging, and genuinely passionate about the stories behind the walls. Even in a single visit, you get a vivid sense of what life was like here, both for prisoners and for students who later used the space. And then there’s the library — a stunning Victorian‑style room filled with old books and warm woodwork. It’s the kind of place that makes you pause, breathe a little slower, and take in the atmosphere. For a one‑time visit, the Morrin Centre offered a rare blend of history, storytelling, and beauty. It’s not just a museum — it’s an experience that stays with you. Update: Thank you for the kind response. It was a pleasure visiting the Morrin Centre — the history, atmosphere, and care your team puts into the experience truly stand out. I’m glad my review was helpful, and I look forward to returning on my next trip to Québec City.

This is my second time in QC, and I have taken the discovery tour on both occasions where I learn something new each time (granted the first time I took it was in 2015). This is the part of history that you shouldn’t miss out. The tour is fair priced.

Beautiful old library. They have a guided tours 3 times a per day. Cost: 10$ per family to visit the library. Small heritage building with a lot of old books.

Fascinating history. The jail cells are as dark and gloomy as expected. The library is beautiful!

My wife is a librarian and she had a blast. Lots of interesting history, and the guided tour was excellent.

This was an unexpected piece of history that reddit recommended to me. It used to be a prison, and then a college, and now it houses an extensive library and cultural/literature center. It is still ran by a nonprofit that is funded entirely by donations/philanthropy. You can get a guided tour of the old prison cells and college chemistry lab, along with a history lesson as part of a tour. You can also just relax and read a book in the library. The special part of the entire experience for me was that everything we saw and touched and even used is original. Especially in the library, the chairs are all original, the bookshelves, the flooring, all of it. It's extremely rare to find someplace where we can not only see and interact, but actually use the originals that have existed for decades. I'm happy they put that trust in visitors, and if you visit, please respect that privilege.

Great guided tour for the family. Reasonable price $50ish. Interesting history.

You must book a tour here if you are in Old Quebec City. Such an interesting place to visit. One of the highlights off all the tours we did.

As tourists in Quebec City, this was the one attraction that we were most excited about! Morrin Centre is a library that is built on top of what was once a prison. They have guided tours of the space in French and English throughout the week. We attended their 3:00pm English guided tour on a Sunday and were so impressed with our guide as well as the history of the centre!! I was amazed by how well they preserved the prison, the story behind it really paints a picture of what the days looked like back then. Their library is also gorgeous with antique pieces and historical figures all around. Morrin Centre is located in the heart of Old Quebec City and is walking distance from a lot of other attractions. If it's a rainy day in the city, I would recommend visiting this place!

Came here to work since the library next door was closed (they're on strike). Paid 5CAD to work/use their wifi here. It's a historical building with a lot of info/artifacts on display around the building. There were tours going on while I was here. WiFi was meh so we left to find better wifi. Would recommend coming here if you're a history buff.

Zero stars would work better. If you're in QC skip this joke of an attraction. Building not nice. Collection not impressive. Not even a little. Reading space is either roped off or not conducive to reading. Historical significance of the place is .... Used to be a prison? And the pictures in the wall mean something. Very little of something. Love history. Love books. Visit many libraries. Never felt more like a hoodwinked tourist than in this place which had the nerve to charge real currency (5 Canadian) to enter -- just to enter. My goodness. Please take in the many many other beautiful worthwhile sights of QC and don't waste your time here.

Former jail in Quebec City that offers tours. First learned of it by reading Louise Penny. I Forget the name of the book where she mentions it. It's not the Guidry lace in that wonderful city I'd go visit, which might be L'hippocampe. Or other. sights From The movie Le confessionale. Un fact id Luke to do a Confessionale tour. L'hippocampe offers a hotel and not *just* a bathhouse.

Amazing history and they have maintained so many of the original artifacts and infrastructure. It's an active library that has so many old books. Absolutely gorgeous. I highly recommend the tour!

The Morrin Cultural Center has an amazing discovery tour that takes you through the building and its history in an engaging and effective manner. The tour guides don't ramble on and on to the point of you tuning them out, but instead keeps the historical explanations and descriptions succinct and interesting. The tour guide I had was super sweet and even let our tour group visit the upper level of the library (typically restricted access) since we were a "good group". I personally thought that the tour made it really enjoyable to learn about the history of the building, and how it went from being a prison, to a school, and now a library/cultural center. On the discovery tour, you'll be allowed to explore the prison (warning: really dim and musty), library, science laboratory, and other rooms. Be sure to check when the touring hours are beforehand!

Morrin Centre has quite a history - this site used to be military barracks, later a jail was built, and then a school. So once upon a time there were gallows, now it has an English-language library and a cultural centre! Note you have to take off your shoes in the winter to enter the library. There is quite a collection of books and a scene-stealing staircase. I saw some youths studying in the back. As in, gasp, reading books! I wasn't able to take the prison tour that I was interested in, but they have one called a Discovery tour: Fridays to Sundays, 11 am - 6 pm, throughout the months of November and December. Each tour lasts approximately one hour, and is available in English or French. So go & learn something new!

This was one of our favorite stops in Old Quebec. The Morrin Centre offers a terrific tour of this historic building, which has served many purposes. Most people visit (and the place is promoted) because it was once a prison, and portions of the building contain the cells and exhibits on crime and punishment. You can learn some gruesome history about executions and floggings and a bit about prison reform. You can see a cell where people were held in solitary confinement without light (but with rats), and can imagine what it was like to use a hole in the floor as a toilet (but be careful, because the hole in the ceiling directly above is someone else's toilet--it was good to be on the fourth, or top, floor!) The building then housed a university, and you can still see the room used for lectures and the old chemistry lab. Simply walking through this ancient old building, built in the early 19th Century, was wonderful. Some of the same old stairs still exist, and we tried to guess which panes of glass were original and which were newer based on how wavy they were. Finally, the Morrin Center became the English-language library, housed here since Since 1868. The library room is beautiful and contains a lot of interesting history. English-language tours take place on the hour and can be reserved on the Morrin Website.

Came here on a raining day, as I was trying to find a good indoor place to spend the time. The museum is not big but very interesting. You can only go through the museum by the guided tour, cannot do by yourself. English and French tours are available. The building was used as a prison at the beginning, then Mr. Morrin started the 1st English college here as the number of English speaker grow a lot during that time. Here was also one of the earliest college accept female student. Later the college closed as many English speaker moved to Montreal and Ottawa. The library is very beautiful! Very tiny and beautiful library still serve it functions. Definitely a must see when you come.

What an interesting place. My bf and I did a tour here after hours that included the history of the place as a prison and leading up to its current place as a library/cultural center. If you're into dorky things like that, this was a cool side-activity for an hour! We get to see the prison units downstairs and get an idea of the times. A fun place to check out!

Our tour guide Max was both knowledgeable and funny! We learned a lot and he pointed out a lot of interesting things. The history of the jail/college/library/science lab/cultural center (lol) is fascinating and is worth the money.

We toured the prison and school part, not the library. The prison tour was fun and informative.

Wow! We came in last minute for a 10am tour, and had a fantastic experience. Sarah was our guide, and she did an amazing job. We got to learn and see so much. Definitely recommend going. It's only $12!!

I got a great, informative tour of this building that's served as a prison, college, and now a non-profit, English-speaking library. Lots of random, interesting facts, and I was able to be put in solitary confinement in the pitch black with two strangers. So that happened. As an English-speaking librarian who speaks no French, I found the library itself to be a great oasis to sit back, relax, and do some writing and reading while on vacation.

Visited here with my family on a trip to Quebec City. It is a very unique place, and was used for many different purposes throughout it's history. We found the tour very informative and our tour guide max, was very helpful.

Great tour, fascinating place, well worth your time. What a story: prison, college, library - and it is all still here! See the front door? There used to be a gallows right above it! Beautiful old science lab too.

A very interesting library. Beautiful old architecture. Free to see the library but must pay for a tour of the prison cells in the basement area. We didn't see the prison area but enjoyed the rest. Super nice employees!

Delightful tour guide and interesting place. Bury Your Dead by Louise Penney based her murder mystery there.