Abstract:  Massive galaxies represent both the beginning and the end point of galaxy evolution. The dense regions where they form are among the earliest to begin star formation at high redshift, and the deep gravitational potentials in which they reside today are the sites of gas accretion, gas stripping, galaxy mergers, tidal harassment, and energetic feedback processes. By studying massive galaxies, particularly those at the centers of galaxy clusters, we can sample the full range of galactic evolutionary processes. The nearest such galaxy to us is the cD galaxy, M87 (NGC 4486), which resides at the center of the densest region in the nearby Universe, the core of the Virgo cluster of galaxies. Using data from the Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey, a 180-night Large Program on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, I will present what we have learned about the assembly history of M87, and the corresponding evolutionary history of the less massive stellar systems (dwarf galaxies, ultra-compact dwarfs, and globular clusters) that are in the Virgo core