Dominating Saint Lawrence River from the high of Diamond Cape, the city of Québec has attracted many visitors since its foundation in 1608, by Samuel de Champlain.
This fortified city, imbedded in a natural promontory, became a target for numberless invaders and a place of historical battles. Québec is the capital of the province (which has 6.896.000 inhabitants) with the same name. The city of Québec has 165.100 inhabitants. It was designated as World Heritage by UNESCO.
Québec Region consists in five historical districts, whose architecture witnesses four centuries of history, shaped by the influence of autochthonal, French and English cultures.
In Québec people speak mainly French (95%) and English (5%). However, a great number of its residents are bilingual (speaking both French and English).
The province lives at the rhythm of the 4 seasons. Temperatures vary between the -8ºC in winter and the 25ºC in August. Québec is the “capital of snow”, with an average yearly snowfall of 342 cm. In addition, the use of proper clothing is necessary and recommended: boots, blouses, round caps, gloves and mackintoshes. You are also able to enjoy a variety of winter sports: skidoo, sled dog racing, toboggan, skiing, ice-skating, etc.
The word “kebec” means “the place where the river narrows”. Champlain established a trading post with the indigenous peoples at present-day Québec City. During the next decades, the city experienced a period of development and prosperity, thanks to an important commercial port, where the trade of some products, mainly wood and furs, took place. Along with the development of the colony were the conflicts with the British. In 1759, the British troops, led by General Wolfe, defeated the troops of Marquis of Montcalm in a surprise battle on the Plaines of Abraham. To avoid further bloodshed, the king of France officially ceded New France to the British forces. In 1867, Québec becomes one of the four provinces which created a federation known as the Dominion of Canada.
Québec is known for being one of the most secure cities in North America. People can walk on foot or by car in safety, at any hour of the day or night. The beauty of the city, the abundance of parks and green spaces, and the proximity to natural places (lakes, mountains, rivers…) are responsible for a life characterized by quality.
Montreal
Montreal (Mount Royal) is the second largest metropolitan centre in Canada (after Toronto) and the second largest concerning the number of French speakers outside France. This island has approximately 3.300.000 inhabitants within the metropolitan area of Montreal.
The city has 177 sq km, the island of Montreal 494 sq km and the surrounding metropolitan area about 3.509 sq km.
The climate in Montreal is characterized by significant temperature changes, which vary from the -14ºC in January up to the 28ºC in July.
Imagine if you can, thousands of years ago, an island covered by trees, with hunting, located in the junction of Saint Lawrence River and Outaouais. The American Indians stopped there frequently on their way both to the Atlantic Ocean, and to the West, in order to avoid the swift currents that blocked their way to the Great Lakes.
During that period, the old Montreal consisted in a vast line of shelters located along the Saint Lawrence River. Such shelters surmounted by a small elevation (no longer existing) were separated from the rest of the island by a small creek, which went through a swampy bed, joined to other creeks and forming a small river. This river, which went up to Saint Lawrence River, formed a small parcel of land, where the first French colonizers led by Jacques Cartier founded Montreal, in 1535.
When in 1603 Samuel de Champlain visited the island, he didn’t find any settlement. Thus, he returned in 1611 and settled his crew there, near the “small river”. However, the true founders of Montreal were still to come. In May 1642, a group of French colonizers founded Montreal, along the margins of Saint Lawrence River, in a small parcel, included nowadays in the old block of the city. First known as Ville-Marie, this place developed itself and changed rapidly. In the 18th century, it was already a fortified city, first in the hands of the French, and after of the British. In the 19th century, due to its political and commercial relevance, Montreal grew into a burgess centre and became a Victorian pride because of the enormous changes caused by the Industrial Revolution. In the beginning of the 20th century, Montreal was already a large metropolis, symbolized as the seat of the Great Banks in St. James Street. Nowadays, and since the 60’s, it is the historical centre of the city, still very lively, thanks to several projects deeply related to its own cultural heritage.