La Vieille Capitale

[Sol Invictus]

Don de Dieu ferai valoir - I shall put God's gift to good use

Quebec City is one of the oldest European settlements in North America. While many of the major cities in Mexico date from the sixteenth century, among cities in Canada, and the U.S.A. only St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador; Port Royal, Nova Scotia; St. Augustine, Florida; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Jamestown, Virginia and Tadoussac, Quebec were created earlier than Quebec City.

However, Quebec City is the first to have been founded with the goal of receiving permanent settlement, and not as a commercial outpost, and therefore is considered to be the first European-built city in non-Spanish North America.

Quebec was founded by Samuel de Champlain, a French explorer and diplomat on July 3, 1608, and at the site of a long abandoned St. Lawrence Iroquoian settlement called Stadacona. Champlain, also called "The Father of New France",served as its administrator for the rest of his life.


The Don de Dieu was Champlain's ship, and is depicted on the City's Flag.

It was to this settlement that the name "Canada" refers. Although called the cradle of the Francophone population in North America, the Acadian settlement at Port-Royal antedates it. The place seemed favourable to the establishment of a permanent colony.


The Don de Dieu is "greeted."


Quebec City in 1700

Before Champlain, French explorer Jacques Cartier built a fort at the site in 1535, where he stayed for the winter before going back to France in spring 1536.

He came back in 1541 with the goal of building a permanent settlement. This first settlement was abandoned less than one year after its foundation, in the summer 1542, due in large part to the hostility of the natives combined with the harsh living conditions during winter.


A typical winter condition in Quebec City and most of Canada.
Not the easiest to live in, even by today's standards.

Quebec City was captured by the British in 1759 and held until 1763. It was the site of three battles during Seven Years War - the Battle of Beauport, a French victory (July 31, 1759); the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, in which British troops under General James Wolfe defeated the French General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm on September 13th, 1759 and shortly thereafter took the city; and the final Battle of Sainte-Foy, a French victory (April 28, 1760).


James Peter Wolfe a British Army officer,
remembered chiefly for his victory
over the French in Canada and establishing British rule there.

France ceded New France, including the city, to Britain in 1763.
At the end of French rule in 1763, the territory of present-day Quebec City was a world of contrasts. Forests, villages, fields and pastures surrounded the town of 8 000 inhabitants.

The town distinguished itself by its monumental architecture, fortifications, muddy and filthy streets, affluent homes of masonry and shacks in the suburbs St-Jean and St-Roch. Despite its urbanity and its status as capital, Quebec City remained a small colonial city with close ties to its rural surroundings.



During the American Revolution, revolutionary troops from the southern colonies assaulted the British garrison in an attempt to 'liberate' Quebec City now known as the Battle of Quebec.



The defeat of the revolutionaries from the south put an end to the hopes that the peoples of Quebec would rise and join the American Revolution so that Canada would join the Continental Congress and become part of the original United States of America along with the other British colonies of continental North America.



In effect, the outcome of the battle would be the effective split of British North America into two distinct political entities.



Following the battle, Major General Isaac Brock further fortified Quebec City by strengthening the walls and building an elevated artillery battery known as the Citadelle of Quebec before the War of 1812.


Major General Sir Isaac Brock, a Canadian folk legend, falls at Queenston Heights.
His last words: "Push on, brave York Volunteers"

A series of Martello towers was also built on elevated terrain beyond the city walls to provide further artillery support effectively turning the city into a fortress. In the end, the city was not attacked during the war of 1812 but continued to house a large British garrison until 1871.



The Citadel is still in use by the military and three of the Martello towers are still maintained as museums and tourist attractions.



In 1840, after the Province of Canada was formed, the role of capital was shared between Kingston, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Quebec City (from 1852 to 1856 and from 1859 to 1866).

[YOUTUBE]bORhVm8QYaA[/YOUTUBE]The Citadel today, that Sir Isaac Brock founded. Protected by the Royal 22nd Regiment in honour of Her Majesty's Right in Canada - Traditionally British in structure and command, spoken completely in French, and quintessentially Canadian. Which reflects the history of Canada and true Canadian society.