Quebec City - Fortifications

Old Quebec is a walled city. It is the only such city in the U.S. or Canada with its fortifications still intact. Our hotel in Place D'Youville was just outside one of the three gates through the wall:

[In the photo above, note the ice skating rink at the left. The pile of snow in front of the gate is from the Zamboni that maintained the skating rink, not from the weather.]

The highest point of land in the city is occupied by the Citadelle, a fort within a fortified city. Construction of the Citadelle was started by the French in the late 1600s but most of the current fort was built by the British in the 1820s to protect against attack from the Americans (which never came). The Citadelle is still an active Canadian military installation, home to the Royal 22e Regiment. Flags at the Citadelle were flying at half-mast because of the recent death of a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan.

The Citadelle is not imposing from the outside. It does not rise much above the land. Below is the entrance, which is itself reached only by a circuitous route and therefore not visible until you are upon it:

The only way to get inside the Citadelle is on a guided tour (highly recommended). Below is the view from inside the Citadelle at the height of land. Note the Chateau Frontenac in the distance at the right.

The view below is from the same spot (note the Chateau Frontenac again). The general direction of this view is downriver, but of course the English were concerned about possible attacks from either direction. The cannon at the right is pointed upriver, in the general direction of the refinery noted earlier, and when operational it was capable of firing twice as far as that refinery.

Just outside the Citadelle, and therefore also just outside the walls of Old Quebec, is a high plateau known as the Plains of Abraham. Here there are additional fortifications, including this Martello Tower:

The open fields which constitute the "plains" are just to the right of the above photo. Today they are part of the popular Battlefields Park. A pivotal battle was fought here in 1759 during what we call the French and Indian War. Canadian history can be divided into three periods: the French period, the English period, and the Canadian period. The French period ended in the 20 minute Battle of the Plains of Abraham.

Briefly, the British General James Wolfe (only 32 years old) was sent down the St. Lawrence River in May 1759 with about 8,000 men and 50 ships and with orders to take Quebec City. After nearly four months of bombardment and several skirmishes, he had damaged the city but not taken it. In September he hit upon a plan for a small force to climb the cliffs to the Plains of Abraham during the night. The French were not expecting an attack from this direction, and they were defeated. Both Wolfe and the commanding French General, Louis Joseph de Montcalm, were killed, but the British held the field.