Hochelaga (French pronunciation: [ɔʃlaɡa]) was a St. Lawrence Iroquois 16th century fortified village on or near Mount Royal in present-day Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

[7] The original documentation that describes the village’s location is Bref récit et succincte narration de la navigation faite en MDXXXV et MDXXXVI, which Cartier gave to King Francis I of France in 1545.

A plan exists titled La Terra de Hochelaga nella Nova Francia, which illustrates, in the European manner of the period, Cartier's original visit.

The perfect, regular arrangement of the houses, conforming to the urban ideal of the Italian Renaissance, as well as the boards covering the village's palisade, were probably his own fabrications.

[8] A reproduction of La Terra de Hochelaga by Paul-Émile Borduas decorates the walls of the Grand Chalet of Mount Royal Park.

The inhabitants' disappearance has spawned several theories, including their migration westward toward the shores of the Great Lakes, devastating wars with the Iroquois tribes to the south or the Hurons to the west, or the impact of Old World diseases.

At the time of Samuel de Champlain's arrival, both Algonquins and Mohawks hunted in the Saint Lawrence Valley and conducted raids, but neither had founded any permanent settlements.

The arrival of Jacques Cartier in Hochelaga in 1535, at the foot of what is now known as Mount Royal,[2] was an episode especially consequential to the history of New France in his three exploration voyages to the West Indies.

Under a mandate from King Francis I to find a waterway to Cathay (China) and to Cipango (Japan), he reached Stadacona (the future site of Québec City) at the end of the summer of 1535.

Close examination of historical documentation in the 20th century raised the possibility that before the European arrival, the Rivière des Prairies was the usual waterway used by the indigenous tribes, as it was much less dangerous than the Saint Lawrence River with its rapids.

He then visited Hochelaga, and noted its organization, giving a detailed description of the interior of a longhouse and how people lived in it: "The said town is all in a circle, enclosed in wood, in three ranks, in the manner of a pyramid, crossed at the top, having a row perpendicular to it all.

Once atop the summit of one of the hills comprising the mount, Cartier declared: "We can see the said river, other than where we left our barques, where there is a rapid, the most impetuous it is given to see, one which is not possible for us to pass.

The 1556 edition contains assorted illustrations by Giacomo Gastaldi, including La Terra de Hochelaga Nella Nova Francia, describing Cartier's visit on Mount Royal (Monte Real on the map) in the European style of the time.

One of the paintings in the Mount Royal Chalet is a reproduction of La Terra de Hochelaga by Paul-Émile Borduas, a member of the Refus Global.