Fortifications of Québec
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Ancienne Porte du Palais, Québec, watercolour by James Pattison Cockburn, 1829
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In 1948 the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC) designated the Fortifications of Québec as a site of national historic significance. In 2000, the Board declared that the site commemorates the defence system put in place at Québec City, Canada’s main strongpoint in the colonial era, and that the site includes the entire defence system.
Québec’s defensive role is a key part of the city’s history. As early as 1608, the “Abitation” built by Champlain (person designated by the HSMBC in 1929) incorporated defensive features. In 1620, Champlain laid out Fort Saint-Louis in the Upper Town. Under French rule, four walls were erected in the Upper Town wholly or partly to replace the first stockade dating from 1690; these were built in 1693, 1701 and 1712, while in 1745 Chaussegros de Léry (person designated in 2006), completed the wall he had started building in 1720. After the British conquest, a temporary citadel was erected between 1779 and 1783, and from 1786 to 1812 the fortifications were strengthened. The existing Citadel was built between 1820 and 1832; completing the defence works were the forts constructed on the south shore between 1865 and 1871. Superannuated in 1871, the fortifications were preserved particularly through the efforts of Lord Dufferin (person designated in 1975).
The defence system shaped the way the city was organized and developed. Aside from the fortifications and defence works, it included buildings for the troops ordered to defend the city, both within and beyond the walls. Québec is the only walled city in North America. Its defence system is part of the very identity of the city and is one of the reasons why Québec City was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.
The HSMBC has taken an interest in the fortifications of Québec since 1920. The Board has recognized different components as having national historic significance, including the Martello Towers and Lévis Forts in 1920, the Citadel in 1946, the Maillou House in 1958, Montmorency Park in 1966, an officers’ billet in 1969, the Armoury in 1986, the Garrison Club in 1999, and the Saint-Louis Forts and Châteaux in 2002. The Federal Heritage Building Review Office (FHBRO) has classified or recognized 45 components of the fortifications for their heritage value.