Montréal City Walls
The city walls of Montréal were built in the late phase of urban fortification construction around 1700. They were about 3.5 km long, up to 6.4 m high and were initially built from wood from 1687 to 1689, and from 1717 to 1738 as stone city fortifications.
Building history
In 1713, the artistic director Michel Bégon de la Picardière issued an ordonnance in which he ordered the construction of a stone wall. However, the plans submitted by Boisberthelot de Beaucours (1662-1750) did not appeal to the responsible Conseil de la Marine .
It was not until 1717 that the palisades were built with a corresponding fortification system according to plans by the royal engineer in New France, Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry , who had arrived in the city in 1716. He managed the construction work until completion in 1738 and 1744 respectively. De Léry came from Toulon , where he was born in 1682. He was a royal engineer from 1716 to 1756. In this role, he was also responsible for the fortress structures in Québec, Chambly, Niagara, Saint-Frédéric and Sault-Saint-Louis (Kahnawake). In 1687 around 630 inhabitants lived within the palisades, two years later around 740. In 1704 there were already over 1,500, in 1722 more than 2,000.
The inner walls of the former Escarpe were set, the outer to the former contrescarpe . The work lasted until 1738 and further expansion work took place in 1744. Its remains can be found along Rue Berri in the east, Rue de la Commune in the south, McGill in the west and Rue des Fortifications in the north. They thus encompassed today's Montreal old town . The Recollet Gate opened to the west, as did a gate to the north and east. To the south, to the river, pointed several gates such as the water gate, the market gate, the gate dedicated to St. Mary and a small gate - a total of eight gates. According to a city map from 1752, the wall comprised 14 bastions. There was only a simple wall in the south towards the river, as attacks from ships or canoes could only be feared from here. On the land side, however, the construction height from the trench to the bastions was up to 25 meters and was able to withstand even strong cannon fire.
However, in contrast to their wooden predecessors, the walls never proved their functionality, because the city was never besieged. From 1804 to 1817 they were demolished according to a resolution from 1801, as more and more residents moved from the walled city to the faubourgs . Two thirds of Montréal residents lived there in 1805. Remains can be found on the Champ-de-Mars behind the Hôtel de Ville and at the entrance to the Musée Pointe-à-Callière . Other fragments were found at the restaurant Les Remparts on Rue de la Commune. In the Champ-de-Mars, 250 meters were uncovered, which were located between the Bastille de Saint-Laurent in the west and that of the Jésuites in the east. On the Place Jacques-Cartier , the contours of the fastening were made visible in the flooring.
British plant
The only military facility built by the British was built in 1820 on Île Sainte-Hélène , which protected the port. It was part of a chain of fortifications that London built to counter American attacks. In 1818 the island was bought by the Lemoyne family. The construction of the fortifications, which were completed in 1824, led Elias Walker Durnford. In addition to barracks, the facility offered space for up to 274 soldiers, a weapons store, an ammunition store and a powder store. The island, surrounded by rapids (Rapides de Sainte-Marie), was manned until 1870. Not far from the barracks, fortifications had been made for the first time in 1762, and in 1807 two guard posts were set up there. During the cholera epidemic of 1830, the fortress was used as a military hospital. Since 1845 there was a military prison for the entire east of the country.
In 1905 the fortress, which had not been used for more than three decades, became an urban park, but it was used again as an ammunition store during the First World War . During the Second World War , the island served as a prison camp from July 3, 1940 to November 1943, in which around 250 Italians were held. In 1955 the Société historique du Lac St-Louis used the rooms for an exhibition; from this the Musée militaire et maritime de Montréal developed , better known under the name Musée Stewart . One of the buildings, the so-called block house , burned down in 1997. One of the buildings on the island that is not of a military nature is the water tower , the Tour de Lévis, which was created in 1936-37 for a capacity of 4,500 hectoliters of water.
literature
- Montréal, ville fortifiée du XVIIIe siècle , published by the Center Canadien d'Architecture, Montréal 1992
See also
Web links
- Montréal, ville fortifiée au XVIIIe siècle, exhibition from September 8, 1992 to February 28, 1993
- David Ramsey Map Collection: Plan of the town and fortifications of Montreal or Ville Marie in Canada.
- A la découverte de la fortification de Montréal