Quebec City - Upper Town Within the Walls.

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Old Quebec City, Canada’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, is all about history … in the walls, the fortifications, the venerable buildings, the narrow streets, and the multitude of commemorative statues and monuments. There are four massive entrance “gates”, so I’ll start at the best known one … the Porte St Louis … and move eastward to the famous Chateau Frontenac. It is surrounded by three notable areas, the Place d’Armes (originally a military parade square), the Dufferin Terrace boardwalk, and the Terrace Garden. The Garden is noteworthy because it contains an unusual dual monument to both Wolfe and Montcalm who fought and died on the Plains of Abraham. . From there we’ll move over a bit to several important streets, statues, and buildings, including the Catholic and Anglican cathedrals. Of course a major feature within the walls is La Citadelle (the Citadel), which I haven’t overlooked. It alone harbours so much history that it will be the subject of a separate blog.

A visitor can enjoy most of the old town inside the walls just for its nifty shops, fine restaurants and quaint picturesque vistas. That is what these pictures depict, although they don’t show all the places one might wish to visit. I suspect that many readers, though, will want to look beyond what they see, to learn more about how the city and its splendid artifacts came to be, so I’m providing a few additional URLs for readers who want more. Delve into them if you wish … if history isn’t your “thing” just enjoy the sights of this wonderful old city that I hope you’ll visit some day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_de_Champlain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral-Basilica_of_Notre-Dame_de_Quebec

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/francois_de_laval/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laval_University .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George-%!C(MISSING)3%!t(MISSING)ienne_Cartier .

http://www.cathedral.ca .

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