Trois-Rivières
| Trois-Rivières | |||
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 View from the St. Lawrence River |
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 coat of arms |
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| Location in Quebec | |||
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| State : |
 Canada
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| Province : | Quebec | ||
| Administrative region : | Mauricie | ||
| Coordinates : | 46 ° 21 ′ N , 72 ° 33 ′ W | ||
| Height : | 16 m | ||
| Area : | 288.9 km² | ||
| Residents : | 131,338 (as of 2011) | ||
| Population density : | 454.6 inhabitants / km² | ||
| Time zone : | Eastern Time ( UTC − 5 ) | ||
| Municipality number: | 37067 | ||
| Postal code : | G8T-G8Z, G9A-G9C | ||
| Area code : | +1 819 | ||
| Foundation : | 1615 (1634) | ||
| Mayor : | Yves Lévesque | ||
| Website : | www.v3r.net | ||
Trois-Rivières ( [tʁwɑ.ʁi.vjɛʁ] , English obsolete Three Rivers ) is a city in the south of the Canadian province of Québec . It is located about 125 km northeast of Montreal and 110 km southwest of the provincial capital Québec , i.e. about halfway between the two largest metropolitan areas of the province on the Saint Lawrence River . Trois-Rivières is the capital of the administrative region of Mauricie and is a so-called territorial equivalent of a regional municipality . In 2002 today's city was created through the merger with five neighboring communities. The city in the densely populated Québec-Windsor corridor has an area of 288.9 km² and has 131,338 inhabitants (2011). Trois-Rivières is considered the oldest industrial city in Canada.
geography
Trois-Rivières is located in the Saint Lawrence Lowland, at the confluence of the Rivière Saint-Maurice with the Saint Lawrence River . A few kilometers to the southwest is Lac Saint-Pierre , a lake that is under the protection of the Ramsar Convention and is a biosphere reserve . The urban area, located entirely on the north side of the St. Lawrence River, is 26 km long and up to 17 km wide. The terrain is mostly flat and includes a plateau that is slightly elevated above the river and reaches a height of up to 75 m. The name of the city means "three rivers" in German and refers to the three mouths of the Saint-Maurice. There are several islands in the estuary, including the Île Saint-Christophe, the Île Saint-Quentin, the Île de la Potherie, the Île Caron and the Île de Blonville. The Réserve écologique Marcel-Léger , an ecological protected area, is under special protection .
Neighboring municipalities are Yamachiche in the west, Saint-Étienne-des-Grès in the northwest, Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel in the north, Saint-Maurice in the northeast and Champlain in the east. On the opposite side of the Saint Lawrence River are Bécancour and Nicolet .
climate
Trois-Rivières has a cold temperate , fully humid climate ( Köppen classification : Dfb). Winters are long, cold, and snowy, while summers are typically warm. The average annual snowfall is 241 cm, with the ground continuously covered with snow from December to March. The annual average rainfall is 1099.8 mm. In January the average temperature drops to −12.5 ° C, in July it rises to 19.8 ° C. The coldest temperature ever measured is −41.1 ° C on January 24, 1976, the heat record is 36.1 ° C on August 1, 1975.
coat of arms
Description of the coat of arms : Three silver fish in blue separated by a lowered rafter in silver with a blue lily .
history
The present urban area was originally settled by the indigenous people, the Algonquin and the Abenaki . They used the conveniently located point at the confluence of two important traffic routes (St. Lawrence River and Rivière Saint-Maurice) to do business. The French explorer Jacques Cartier described the site in 1535 during his second trip to the New World and erected a cross on the Île Saint-Quentin. The name Trois-Rivières was first used by Captain François Dupont-Gravé in 1599; while he was referring to the three mouths of the Rivière Saint-Maurice. In 1603, Samuel de Champlain recommended the construction of a permanent settlement, but this only happened three decades later, after the Algonquin chief Capitanal had expressly asked him to do so. The Sieur de Laviolette (whose exact identity is still controversial) founded the city of Trois-Rivières on July 4, 1634.
Trois-Rivières, the second French city in New France , was at once an important administrative center and an important trading center. In 1697 the Ursulines settled down and founded the first school and helped missionaries convert the natives. During the Seven Years' War , Trois-Rivières was conquered by the British in 1760. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War the attempted Continental Army , Quebec to conquer and occupied the city during three and a half months. On June 8, 1776, the Battle of Trois-Rivières took place , in which the British succeeded in pushing back the Americans.
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Trois-Rivières is the oldest industrial city in Canada; the first ironworks (Forges-du-Saint-Maurice) opened in 1730 and remained in operation for 150 years. Their main task was initially to manufacture iron for export to France, almost entirely intended for the construction of ships for the French Navy . The first port facility was built in 1818. The first railway line was opened in 1879. In 1908 a major fire destroyed large parts of the historic city center. From the 1920s to 1960s Trois-Rivières was known as the "world capital of the paper industry ". The falling demand for newsprint and increasing globalization led to the closure of several paper mills. The city stagnated in the 1980s and 1990s when several textile factories had to close. Diversification is intended to bring about a recovery.
The city in its current boundaries was created on January 1st, 2002 through the merger of Trois-Rivières with the neighboring cities and communities of Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Sainte-Marthe-du-Cap, Saint-Louis-de-France, Trois -Rivières-Ouest and Pointe-du-Lac. At the same time, the regional county municipality of Francheville, whose administrative seat had been Trois-Rivières, was dissolved.
Attractions
There are four sites that are classified as a National Historic Site . The sites of the first fortified settlement (Fort de Trois-Rivières, 1634) and the battlefield of 1776 are only marked with memorial plaques. The site of the Forges du Saint-Maurice ironworks (1730) is protected as a cultural landscape. The historical district has been preserved. This is a group of five buildings in the city center. It includes the Maison De Gannes (1756), the Maison Hertel de la Fresnière (1824), the Franciscan Monastery (1742), the Franciscan Church (1750) and the Ursuline Monastery (1700). Other sights include the Assomption de Trois-Rivières Cathedral, built in 1858 (seat of the Trois Rivières diocese ), the Notre-Dame-du-Cap basilica (1954), the Manoir Boucher-De Niverville (1668) and the old prison (1822 ).
Assomption de Trois-Rivières cathedral
Old prison
Notre-Dame du Cap basilica
Ursuline Monastery
Maison Hertel de la Fresnieres
Manoir Boucher-De Niverville
population
According to the 2011 census, Trois-Rivières had 131,338 inhabitants, which corresponds to a population density of 454.6 inh / km². 96.3% of the population stated French as their main language, while English accounted for 1.1%. 0.4% said they were bilingual (French and English), other languages and multiple answers accounted for 2.2%. Only French spoke 70.5%. In 2001, 92.4% of the population were Roman Catholic , 1.9% Protestant and 4.3% non-denominational.
Population development:
| year | 1871 | 1901 | 1931 | 1951 | 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 | 2011 |
| Residents | 11,107 | 13,540 | 48,699 | 72,254 | 93,451 | 103,703 | 111,453 | 121,483 | 122,395 | 131,338 |
traffic
The city is at the intersection of two highways. The Autoroute 40 connects Montreal with the provincial capital Quebec City , while the Autoroute 55 the US state of Vermont with Shawinigan connects. The latter leads over the Pont Laviolette , the only bridge over the Saint Lawrence River between the metropolitan areas of Montreal and Québec. Route 138 , one of the province's most important national highways, runs parallel to the river bank . Route 157 , which begins in Trois-Rivières, leads to Shawinigan.
Two railway lines connect Trois-Rivières with Montreal and Québec and with Shawinigan. Since the end of passenger transport in 1990, they have been reserved for freight transport, operated by the company Chemins de fer Québec-Gatineau . The city can be reached by long-distance bus lines , and the Société de transport de Trois-Rivières company operates 23 local bus routes. Trois-Rivières has a regional airport and a river port.
economy
Due to several economic crises in the second half of the 20th century, Trois-Rivières has lost some of its importance compared to the two most important cities in the province, Montreal and the capital Québec , but remains one of the most important medium-sized cities in the province (alongside Saguenay , Sherbrooke and Gatineau ). Trois-Rivières is still an important center of the paper industry today . Other important branches of industry are metal processing , production of building materials , furniture construction and wood processing as well as food processing . The establishment of companies in the fields of aviation , biotechnology , logistics , environmental technology and microelectronics is specifically promoted . In addition, Trois-Rivières is visited by 2.2 million tourists annually.
education
A university has existed in the city since 1969 : the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières is part of the network of the state Université du Québec and has around 14,350 students. At the middle school level there are two Cégeps ( Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel ) in Trois-Rivières , which combine preparation for university education and technical vocational school. These are the state Collège Laflèche and the private Collège Laflèche . Two school boards are responsible for kindergartens, elementary and secondary schools, adult education and vocational education: the Commission scolaire du Chemin-du-Roy for French-speaking students and the Central Quebec School Board for English-speaking students.
Culture
Trois-Rivières is known as the “national poetry capital of Québec”: Since 1985, in the first week of October there has been a much-noticed international poetry festival with tens of thousands of visitors, and display boards with poetic verses can be found throughout the city. Another important event is FestiVoix , a ten-day open-air music festival that has been held in July since 1992 and attracts around 300,000 visitors.
There are several museums in the city. These include the Boréalis Paper Industry Museum , the Musée québécois de culture populaire (Museum of Québec's Popular Culture), the Center d'exposition Raymond-Lasnier (contemporary art) and the Galerie d'art du Parc (various art exhibitions of various kinds). The latter organizes the Biennale nationale de sculpture contemporaine , a biennale of contemporary sculpture .
Sports
In the city there is an internationally known motorsport race track , the Circuit Trois-Rivières . On the 2.41 km long street circuit , races of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and Grand-Am series take place. The city's best- known sports team is the Caron & Guay de Trois-Rivières ice hockey team , which is part of the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey ; the home games are played in the Colisée de Trois-Rivières with a capacity of 3,500 .
Personalities
- Ezekiel Hart (1767–1843), businessman and politician
- Louis-Joseph-Arthur Melanson (1879–1941), Roman Catholic Archbishop of Moncton
- Alphonse Martin (1884–1947), organist, pianist and music teacher
- Maurice Duplessis (1890–1959), politician
- Pauline Julien (1928–1998), actress and singer
- Jean Béliveau (1931–2014), ice hockey player
- Jean-Guy Talbot (born 1932), ice hockey player
- Jacques Hétu (1938–2010), composer
- René Robert (* 1948), ice hockey player
- André Dupont (* 1949), ice hockey player, trainer and scout
- Jean Piché (* 1951), composer, multimedia artist and music teacher
- Alain Daigle (* 1954), ice hockey player
- Steve Bégin (* 1978), ice hockey player
- Marc-André Bergeron (* 1980), ice hockey player
- Marie-Ève Nault (* 1982), football player
- Louis-Marc Aubry (* 1991), ice hockey player
Web links
- Official website of Trois-Rivières (French)
- Historical map of Trois-Rivières 1777 at the Marburg Digital Archive ( Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg )
Individual evidence
- ^ Trois-Rivières. In: Données des stations pour le calcul des normales climatiques au Canada de 1971 à 2000. Environment and Climate Change Canada , November 12, 2013, accessed on January 25, 2014 (French).
- ^ Trois-Rivières. Commission de toponymie du Québec, accessed January 25, 2014 (French).
- ↑ a b Bref historique. (No longer available online.) City of Trois-Rivières, archived from the original on February 1, 2014 ; Retrieved January 25, 2014 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Le fer de la Nouvelle-France. In: Lieu historique national du Canada des Forges-du-Saint-Maurice. Parks Canada , July 13, 2009, accessed January 25, 2014 (French).
- ↑ Monique Roy-Sole: A Tale of Tenacity . In: Canadian Geographic Magazine, April 2009, Issue 129, No. 2, pp. 36-37.
- ↑ Population profile of the municipality of Trois-Rivières. In: 2011 Census. Statistics Canada , 2011, accessed January 25, 2014 (French).
- ↑ Population profile of the municipality of Trois-Rivières. In: 2001 Census. Statistics Canada , 2001, accessed January 25, 2014 (French).
- ↑ Evolution historique de la population des municipalités au Québec. In: Données sociodémographiques en bref. Institut de la statistique du Québec, February 2008, accessed January 25, 2014 .
- ↑ Industries: Pôles et filières. Innovation et développement économique Trois-Rivières, accessed on January 25, 2014 .
- ^ Festival International de la Poésie. (No longer available online.) Tourisme Trois-Rivières, archived from the original on February 1, 2014 ; Retrieved January 25, 2014 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Le FestiVoix de Trois-Rivières. (No longer available online.) Tourisme Trois-Rivières, archived from the original on February 1, 2014 ; Retrieved January 25, 2014 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
