Place Royale (Québec)
The Place Royale in the lower city of Québec is the site of the oldest French settlement in what is now Québec.
history
The "cradle of French civilization in America" arose where Samuel de Champlain had a fortified post built in 1608 ( Habitation de Québec ). The buildings erected at that time mainly served the fur trade with the indigenous people. The trading post developed rapidly and became what is now Québec's Lower City. The reconstruction after the great fire of 1682 was carried out with fire walls. The square was adorned in 1686 by a statue of the Sun King Louis XIV and was therefore also named Place Royale. On the south side of the square, the Church of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires was built between 1687 and 1723 , which is the oldest stone church in North America.
In 1759 the British army under General James Wolfe besieged Québec and destroyed a large part of the city, including the Place Royale , with their bombardment . The square lost its commercial importance in the 19th century and the city district was dawning.
In 1967 the provincial government decided to redevelop the Place Royale district. In the 1960s and 1970s, extensive restoration, dismantling and reconstruction work was carried out in the quarter. This led to controversy as the project took on the building fabric and appearance of the 17th and 18th centuries. privileged to restore the "French identity of the place" and did not take any consideration of later structural developments from the British-dominated period. The restoration of the cityscape from the end of the 18th century required the demolition of several buildings or structures and extensions from the 19th and 20th centuries.
The Musée de la place Royale explains the history of the square and its inhabitants.
Individual evidence
- ^ Roman Hillmann: The principle of reconstruction in: Kunsttexte 1/2008, p. 1
literature
- Ministère des Affaires culturelles (province de Québec), Place-Royale berceau d'une ville, Les Publications du Québec, 1986
- Roman Hillmann: The principle of reconstruction in: Kunsttexte 1/2008 ( web document, pdf )
