Citadelle of Quebec
| La Citadelle | |
|---|---|
Aerial view of the Citadelle
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Canadian Norman, Greek Revival |
| Town or city | The Citadelle of Quebec Quebec City, Quebec |
| Country | Canada |
| Coordinates | 46°48′27″N 71°12′26″W / 46.807517°N 71.207108°W |
| Construction started | 1673 |
| Client |
The Crown of France (1693, 1701, 1745, 1750) The Crown of Great Britain and Ireland (1820, 1831, 1842) The Crown in Right of Canada (1872) The Crown of Canada (1984) |
| Owner |
The Queen in Right of Canada (Elizabeth II) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Various |
| Engineer | 9 |
| Official name | Québec Citadel National Historic Site of Canada |
| Designated | 1981 |
The Citadelle of Quebec (French: Citadelle de Québec), also known as La Citadelle, is an active military installation and official residence of both the Canadian monarch and the Governor General of Canada. It is located atop Cap Diamant, adjoining the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City, Quebec. The citadel is the oldest military building in Canada, and forms part of the fortifications of Quebec City, which is one of only two cities in North America still surrounded by fortifications, the other being Campeche, Mexico.
The Citadelle is a National Historic Site of Canada and forms part of the Fortifications of Québec National Historic Site of Canada. The fortress is located within the Historic District of Old Québec, which was designated a World Heritage Site in 1985. The site receives some 200,000 visitors annually.
Cap Diamant's strategic value was identified by Samuel de Champlain in 1608 and led him to found Quebec City at the base of the escarpment. The promontory was practically insurmountable and thus the only side of the settlement ever to be heavily fortified was the west, the only one not naturally protected by the hill. The first protective wall (enceinte)—Major Provost's palisade—was built by command of Governor General of New France Louis de Buade, sieur de Frontenac and completed just in time for the Battle of Quebec in 1690. Three years later, a plan by engineer Josué Boisberthelot de Beaucours for new, 75 m (246 ft) wide enceinte was developed by the French military engineer Jacques Levasseur de Néré and approved in 1701 by King Louis XIV's Commissary General of Fortifications, Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban. The proposal to build a full fort was deemed by the government in France to be too costly, despite both the importance and vulnerability of Quebec City. After the fall of Louisbourg in 1745, considerable work on the battlements took place under the direction of military engineer Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry.
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