Items16The creator’s order
  1. 1Place Royale, Quebec CityPlace Royale, Quebec CityQuebec City, Lower Town. This small square is where Samuel de Champlain established his settlement in 1608, so it is the natural first stop for the story of New France. It took its name from the bust of Louis XIV erected in 1686, a reminder that the colony answered to Versailles. Look at the…0
  2. 2Terrasse DufferinTerrasse DufferinQuebec City, Upper Town. Most people stroll this boardwalk for the river view without realising what lies beneath it. Under the planks are the excavated remains of the Saint-Louis forts and Château Saint-Louis, the seat of French and then British governors from 1620 to 1834. Guided tours of the…0
  3. 3Ursulines of QuebecUrsulines of QuebecQuebec City, Upper Town. The Ursuline nuns arrived in 1639 under Marie de l'Incarnation and Madame de la Peltrie, and their monastery is often described as the oldest institution of learning for women in North America. It explains something the forts cannot: New France was built as much by…0
  4. 4Pointe-à-Callière MuseumPointe-à-Callière MuseumMontreal, Old Montreal. If you see one Montreal museum for its history, make it this one. It stands where Maisonneuve, Jeanne Mance and their fellow settlers landed in 1642 to found Ville-Marie, and much of the visit happens underground among real remains: the city's first Catholic cemetery, the…0
  5. 5Cathedral Basilica of Notre-Dame de QuébecCathedral Basilica of Notre-Dame de QuébecQuebec City, Upper Town. The oldest church in Canada explains how central the Church was to New France's government and identity. Building began in 1647, on a site where Champlain had raised a chapel in 1633, and the crypt holds the bishops of Quebec, including François de Laval, the first, along…0
  6. 6Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours ChapelNotre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours ChapelMontreal, Old Montreal. Marguerite Bourgeoys, founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame, helped organise the first chapel here in 1655; the present one dates from 1771, after a fire destroyed its stone predecessor. It is where to understand Montreal's founding women, and the Marguerite Bourgeoys…0
  7. 7Maison Saint-GabrielMaison Saint-GabrielMontreal, Pointe-Saint-Charles. Away from the Old Montreal crowds, this farm shows daily life in New France rather than its power. Marguerite Bourgeoys bought the property in 1668 to support her congregation, and the house also served as a school and sheltered some of the Filles du Roi, the young…0
  8. 8Château RamezayChâteau RamezayMontreal, Old Montreal. Few buildings carry as many regimes under one roof. Built in 1705 for Claude de Ramezay, governor of Montreal, it later passed to the fur-trading Compagnie des Indes, then served British governors after the conquest. When American forces seized Montreal in 1775 it became the…0
  9. 9Ramparts of Quebec CityRamparts of Quebec CityQuebec City, Upper Town. Quebec is the only city north of Mexico that still has its fortified walls, and walking them is the clearest way to see that this was a military stronghold first and a pretty old town second. The ramparts and gates, including the Saint-Jean, Saint-Louis and Kent gates, mark…0
  10. 10Plains of AbrahamPlains of AbrahamQuebec City, Battlefields Park. On 13 September 1759, British troops under Wolfe defeated Montcalm's French army here, and both commanders died of their wounds. The battle handed Quebec City to the British, who took the rest of Canada the following year. Everything else on this list after 1759…0