Saint-Louis Gate in winter.
land where the battle was fought. On Sept. 13, 1759, after a lengthy siege, the British, under the command of Gen- eral James Wolfe, won the battle, defeating the troops com- manded by the French general, the Marquis of Montcalm. Te battle lasted only 15 minutes, but both generals lost their lives; General Wolfe died in the fight, and General Montcalm succumbed to a mortal wound the next morn- ing. Control of Canada was ceded to Britain four years later in 1763 at the Treaty of Paris which ended the Seven Years’ War. Québec City is the capital of Québec, a comfortable role
Petit-Champlain Street at Christmas time.
for this town. For many, many years, Québec was the most important city in Canada. It was the capital of Lower Can- ada from 1791 to 1841 when “Canada” was still two loosely associated territories. Québec was Canada’s seat of govern- ment from 1852 to 1856 and again from 1859 to 1866, sharing the honour with Kingston, Montréal, Ottawa, and Toronto during the period that the capital moved from city to city. Today the city is the seat of government and learning, but its port was one of the most important in the world in the 19th century. Even now, it remains one of the world’s five biggest ports thanks to its status as a cruise destination. Rue St-Paul, the street fronting the port, is lined with marvel- lous little shops and cafes. One charming way to get from lower old town to upper
town is an energetic climb on 200 stone steps up the em- bankment. Tere is also a funicular and an electric shuttle if the climb seems a bit too much for you. Te upper part of the old town has even more charms for
the visitor. You can spend a couple of days just exploring the many little shops, and your walk can flow seamlessly through one of the two city gates to the new town, itself an interesting destination. On the elm-lined rue de Parlementaire, the eight-storey
Aerial view of Old Québec in winter. 36 • Winter 2016
Parliament Buildings stand on a hill overlooking the old town and the St. Lawrence beyond. Québec City still has about 20,000 elms, the largest population of elms in eastern Canada; the city is a city of trees and lovely green spaces. Tere are over 100 parks.
The Hub
Photo by Jean-François Bergeron, Enviro Foto
Photo by Ville de Québec
Photo by Yves Tessier, Tessima.
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