Place Royale
Champlain, Samuel de
Download1A2-C-QC-PR-A4_cp.jpg (490.4Kb)
Date
1608-1860Description
General wide angle lens view of the square, looking east; The site where Samuel de Champlain founded the first permanent French settlement in North America in 1608. Place Royale is part of the historic area that earned Old Québec recognition from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1985. In 1682 fire destroyed 55 houses. With reconstruction came new efforts for fire protection. New building standards gave rise to the urban architecture that is typical of Place-Royale: tall stone buildings, separated by fire-resistant walls, with no outside decoration of wood. Place-Royale, then called the "market square", was above all the centre of trade in New France. From 1633, when hundreds of Amerindians came to a major fur fair, until 1759, the square was a hub of activity. All European imports were brought ashore and all exports were loaded on ships at Québec City. Source: Musée de la civilisation museological complex [website]; http://www.mcq.org/en/mcq/index.html (accessed 7/14/2008)
Type of Work
historic siteSubject
architectural exteriors, business, commerce and trade, cityscapes, historical, Louis XIV, King of France, 1638-1715, mixed-use, secular, mercantile area, Seventeenth century
Rights
Rights Statement
Licensed for educational and research use by the MIT community only