A View of Quebec City Canada’s oldest municipality offers unique beauty and charm Emily Liz Helgersen A New World city with Old World charm. A slice of Europe in North America. These are some of the descriptions given to Quebec City, Canada. Every year, thousands of tourists flock to the municipality and surrounding area to see the historic buildings and monuments, make a pilgrimage to the basilica of Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, or enjoy events like the Winter Carnival. My motivation for going to Quebec City was a little different: I spent six weeks there in the summer of 1986 as part of a government-sponsored French immersion program to promote Canada’s official bilingual policy. From my experiences that summer and with the help of several tourist guides, I have written this essay on Quebec City. Located near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, Quebec City is the oldest city in Canada and, together with St. Augustine, Florida, the only walled one in North America (for the purposes of this article, “North America” will refer only to Canada and the United States). The name “Quebec”, which was first applied to the city and later to the entire province, derives from the Algonquin Indian word “Kebec,” meaning “place where the river narrows,” as the city lies only one kilometre from the opposite shore, today the municipality of Lévis. The first European to sight what is now Quebec City was French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1534. He called the place Cap aux Diamants, “Diamond Cape,” because it featured a promontory made of rocks he thought were diamonds (they were actually iron pyrites). The location was not further explored by Europeans, however, until another Frenchman, Samuel de Champlain, established a fur trading post there in 1608. The French, along with their Indian allies the Algonquians, trapped fur-bearing animals and sent their pelts off to Europe. Quebec City soon became the capital of French North America, or New France, which at its height spanned from Louisbourg in eastern Nova Scotia to Louisiana in the Southern United States. Eventually the city diversified from its role as a fur trading station. Two main sections developed: the Haute Ville, Upper Town, which sits atop the promontory and which is surrounded by walls, and the Basse Ville, Lower Town, below. Quebec City was the site of one of the most significant events in Canadian history: the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. There, in 1759, British General James Wolfe defeated the Marquis de Montcalm and effectively ended France’s hold over Canada. (In fact, after the battle Britain gave the French the choice of Quebec or the Caribbean island of Martinique, but figuring that sugar was more profitable than furs, France elected to keep the latter colony). Nonetheless, Quebec City maintained its Gallic character despite its position under British rule. It also transitioned from being the capital of New France to that of the province of Quebec. _____________________ Quebec City was the site of one of the most significant events in Canadian history: the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. _____________________ As the oldest city in the country, Quebec City boasts several Canadian firsts: the first hospital, Hôtel-Dieu; the oldest existing church, Notre-Dame-des-Victoires (Our Lady of Victories); and the first institute of higher learning, le Grand Sémainaire, later to become Laval University. Indeed, the municipality’s plethora of historic monuments earned it a designation by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Its historical attractions include the Plains of Abraham on the promontory, the Citadelle that once guarded the city - in French colonial times against the British and once in Britain’s hands against a feared American attack - and the cannons along the city’s walls. A later structure is the Chateau Frontenac, built in 1893 by the Canadian Pacific Railway company. Though it originally served as a hotel, in 1944 Canadian Prime Minister William Mackenzie King, his British counterpart Winston Churchill, and American President Franklin D. Roosevelt met at the Chateau to discuss the aftermath of World War II. Given the importance of Catholicism in Quebec’s history, it is not surprising that Quebec City has many interesting churches. Besides the above-mentioned Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, visitors might like to see the cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-Québec (Our Lady of Quebec). While the original cathedral was built in 1632, making it the oldest Catholic congregation in North America, it was destroyed during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and not reconstructed until 1770. Perhaps the most beautiful place of worship in the area is the basilica of Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré (Beaupré is a town just outside Quebec City). Established in 1658, this Gothic-style church is thought to be the oldest shrine in North America – another Canadian first. Throngs of pilgrims travel there each year to pay their respects, though you don’t have to be Catholic or even religious at all to appreciate Ste-Anne’s beauty and grandeur. With all its historic monuments, it is easy to forget that Quebec City possesses a number of natural attractions as well. Among them are the Montmorency Falls just outside the city, which at 272 feet are even higher than Niagara Falls in Ontario. Skiers might want to check out Mont Ste-Anne, “Mount St. Anne,” located like the basilica of the same name in the town of Beaupré. Even outside the winter season the mountain is quite a sight, although climbing it can be gruelling - I know, because I tried to do so myself but stopped midway up because I was convinced I was about to get a heart attack. Quite a few events take place in Quebec City throughout the year. The most famous is without doubt the Winter Carnival, which is held around February just before Lent (the forty-day period before Easter). It features among other things dog sled races, ice sculpting contests, and parades and processions. The Carnival’s main attraction, though, is the Bonhomme, a giant snowman with a red tuque and woven sash. Other happenings in Quebec City include St-Jean-Baptiste Day (June 24), the province’s “national” holiday; the Quebec International Film Festival in late August and early September; the fall Festival of Colours at Mont Ste-Anne; and, for animal lovers like me, the Quebec Horse Show and agricultural Expo-Québec. _____________________ The Carnival’s main attraction, though, is the Bonhomme, a giant snowman with a red tuque and woven sash. _____________________ A few additional tips on visiting Quebec City. First, the food, while maybe not as refined as French cuisine from France, is of fairly good quality, generally better, I must reluctantly admit, than the usual Anglo-Canadian fare. Decent restaurant meals can be purchased at reasonable prices. One of my favourite dishes is a layered pastry called “mille feuilles,” literally “a thousand leaves,” which sometimes appears in English-Canadian bakeries as a “Napoleon.” Even corner store ice cream (crème glacée) I found creamy and tasty. It might also be noted that unlike in my home province of Ontario, beer and other alcoholic beverages are available in some privately owned shops rather than just at government-run liquor facilities. A word about the driving: Quebeckers tend to drive faster than most English Canadians (having travelled to Italy several times to visit family, I’m used to this, but some of my Anglo friends got quite a shock and occasionally a scare from speeding cars). Language is another question. At least in the tourist areas, like the Haute Ville, most store owners and restaurant personnel speak at least passable English – though if you’re a student of French, you might want to try to hone your skills in that language. So with all these things in mind, I recommend you visit Quebec City. Bonne chance! (Good luck!)Merci (thank you) to my father and to my friend Bernard Gauvin with help on this article. Much of the information for it was taken from the Ulysses guide to Quebec City, from Frommer’s Montreal & Quebec City 2005, and from A Colour Guide to Montreal and Quebec City. Emily Liz Helgersen is a secretary and musician based in Canada. When she’s not busy with her job, social activities and hobbies, she likes to write about religion, music, culture or anything else that happens to strike her fancy. In this picture here she’s trying to look composed despite the fact her brother is pinching her arm. You can contact her at ehelgersen@hotmail.com This website: Copyright © 2006 Dream World Media, LLC. / Urban Mozaik Magazine. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed in Urban Mozaik Magazine are not necessarily those of Urban Mozaik Magazine and the publisher cannot be held responsible for them. This website/publication, in whole or in part, may not be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.