Parc des Braves
The Parc des Braves ("Park of the Brave") is a park in the Canadian city of Québec . It is located in the Montcalm district (Arrondissement La Cité-Limoilou ), its site was the scene of the Battle of Sainte-Foy in 1760. The complex forms part of the Parc des Champs-de-Bataille , which is administered by the National Battlefields Commission and is therefore considered an urban national park.
Battle memorial
At the edge of the park stands a 22-meter-high monument designed by the architect Charles Baillairgé . It commemorates François-Gaston de Lévis and his French and Canadian soldiers as well as Indian allies on the one hand, and James Murray and the British troops who faced each other on April 28, 1760 at the Battle of Sainte-Foy on the other.
In 1854, the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste decided to move the remains of soldiers, which had been found here by workers a few years earlier, to private property. To commemorate the French victory, the company planned to build a memorial on the grounds of the Dumont Mill, where the fighting had been particularly fierce. The foundation stone was laid on July 18 of the same year. Due to financing problems, the work dragged on for years. For the centenary of the battle in 1860, the stone foundation was only completed. The base and column were added in 1861, and the official inauguration took place on October 19, 1863. As the Société did not have enough money to maintain it, the monument passed into state ownership in 1864. The National Battlefield Commission has been responsible since 1908.
The three-meter-high statue on the column, a gift from Jérôme Napoléon Bonaparte , represents the Roman goddess of war Bellona . The figure carries a lance and shield and faces that side of the battlefield that had been occupied by the French. The names of Lévis and Murray are engraved on two panels on the base. The park around the monument was built between 1913 and 1915 according to plans by Frederick Todd . In 1970 the monument was moved a few meters to make room for the widening of the adjacent street.
Web links
- Historical information (French)
Coordinates: 46 ° 48 ′ 6.1 " N , 71 ° 14 ′ 28.7" W.