Île Sainte-Hélène
| Île Sainte-Hélène | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Waters | Saint Lawrence River | |
| Geographical location | 45 ° 31 ′ N , 73 ° 32 ′ W | |
|
||
The Ile Sainte-Hélène ( English Saint Helen's Iceland ) is in the Saint Lawrence River located river island in the Canadian province of Quebec . It is located in the urban area of Montreal , immediately east of the Île de Montréal . The island belongs to the Hochelaga archipelago , is around three kilometers long and up to 600 meters wide. The Chenal Le Moyne, a branch of the Saint Lawrence River, separates the Île Sainte-Hélène from the Île Notre-Dame .
history
In 1611 Samuel de Champlain named the island after his wife Hélène Bouillé. From 1665 to 1818 was the Ile Sainte-Hélène owned by the Le Moyne family and was used as part of the Seigneurie of Longueuil used for agriculture. In 1818, four years after the end of the British-American War , the British government acquired the island and built a citadel , a powder store and a log house on it to be able to better defend the city in the event of an American attack. The Canadian federal government took over the island in 1870 and converted it into a public park in 1874, and in 1908 the city acquired it.
From July 1940 to November 1943, the island was the site of a prisoner of war camp , which mainly held Italian soldiers and merchant sailors during the Second World War . A swimming pool has existed since 1953 ; it is called Complexe aquatique de l'île Sainte-Hélène and was the venue for the 2005 World Swimming Championships and the 2005 World Water Polo Championships .
In 1963, the city designated Île Sainte-Hélène as the venue for Expo 67 and enlarged it for this purpose by excavating the underground railway under construction. The world exhibition took place from April to October 1967, the exhibition area also included a peninsula in the Montreal port and the Île Notre-Dame created by land reclamation . After the end of the expo, most of the buildings were demolished and most of the island was converted back into a park landscape. The pavilions of South Korea and the United States remained.
Attractions
The Île Sainte-Hélène and the Île Notre-Dame together form the Parc Jean-Drapeau , named after the former mayor Jean Drapeau (previously known as Parc des Îles ). Numerous sights can be found on the island. The Fort de l'Île Sainte-Hélène, built in 1818 in the center of the island, has housed the David M. Stewart Museum since 1955 . In the north of the island is the La Ronde amusement park , which opened in 1967 and is operated by Six Flags and offers nine roller coasters, among other things.
The Biosphère was created on the occasion of Expo 67 as a pavilion for the United States based on designs by architect Richard Buckminster Fuller . After that, the dome was empty for over two decades, but has been the location of a water and environmental museum since 1995. Other legacies of the world exhibition are the La Spirale observation tower and the Minirail monorail by Willy Habegger . Every summer since 1985, the island has hosted the international fireworks competition L'International des Feux Loto-Québec .
traffic
The Île Sainte-Hélène can be reached via the Pont de la Concorde and Pont Jacques-Cartier bridges as well as with several bus lines operated by the Société de transport de Montréal transport company . In the southern part of the island, the Jean-Drapeau station is on line 4 of Metro Montreal , which connects downtown Montreal with Longueuil . The predecessor of this line was the Expo Express , which ran from the 1967 to 1972 world exhibition.
Web links
- Parc Jean-Drapeau: English , French
- Île Sainte-Hélène during Expo 67
Individual evidence
- ↑ Île Sainte-Hélène , Commission de toponymie du Québec
- ^ Les camps de prisonniers de guerre allemands au Canada
- ↑ Piscines de Ste.-Hélène , grandquebec.com
- ^ Frequently asked questions , Parc Jean-Drapeau