Old Quebec
| Old Quebec | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates: 46°48′47″N 71°12′29″W / 46.813°N 71.208°W | |
| Borough | La Cité-Limoilou |
| City | Quebec City |
| Province | Quebec |
| Country | Canada |
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC−5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC−4) |
| Official name | Historic District of Old Quebec |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | iv, vi |
| Designated | 1985 (9th session) |
| Reference no. | 300 |
| State Party | Canada |
| Region | Europe and North America |
Old Québec (French: Vieux-Québec) is a historic neighbourhood of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Comprising the Upper Town (French: Haute-Ville) and Lower Town (French: Basse-Ville), the area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Administratively, Old Quebec is part of the Vieux-Québec–Cap-Blanc–colline Parlementaire district in the borough of La Cité-Limoilou.
The area is sometimes referred to as the Latin Quarter (French: Quartier latin), but this title refers more to area around the Séminaire de Québec, the original site of Laval University.
During 1608, Samuel de Champlain chose Upper Town as the site of the Fort Saint-Louis. Ever since it was founded, it has remained the military and administrative part of the city which was determined by the strategic heights of the Cap Diamant promontory. After the British conquest, Upper Town was mostly populated by British government officials and Catholic clergy while French and English merchants and artisans lived in Lower Town.
The strong military presence in this area has long limited its expansion. By the end of the 19th century, some wanted the city’s fortifications to be demolished as they were deemed unnecessary and they interfered with urban development. Lord Dufferin would successfully persuade officials to conserve the city’s fortified appearance by adapting it to meet the needs of a modern-day city.
The area was subjected to some deterioration during the 1950s but new building began during the 1970s.
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Wikipedia