The 'Citadelle' - the French name is used both in English and French - is a military installation and official residence located atop
Cap Diamant, adjoining the
Plains of Abraham in
Quebec City,
Quebec,
Canada. This
citadel is part of the fortifications of Quebec City, the only city with extant
city walls in North America.
The
Quebec Parliament Building and many other provincial government buildings and several large hotels are also nearby, towering over this sunken or flat citadel, typical of late 18th century and early 19th century castrametation.
The first protective wall (enceinte) was built in the 17th century under
Louis de Buade, sieur de Frontenac. A plan of
fortifications was developed by the French military engineer
Jacques Levasseur de Néré (
1662-
1723) and approved by Louis XIV's commissary general of fortifications
Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban in 1701. Considerable work took place on the fortifications after the fall of
Louisbourg in 1745 under the direction of military engineer
Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry.
The existing star-shaped fortifications were built by the British between
1820 and
1831 under the direction of Royal Engineer lieutenant colonel
Elias Walker Durnford and incorporated a section of the French "enceinte" of 1745. Their purpose was to secure the strategic heights of Cape Diamond against the Americans and to serve as a refuge for the British garrison in the event of attack or rebellion. The preservation of much of the fortifications and defences of Quebec is due to the intervention of
Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava,
Governor General of Canada 1872–1878, who also established the Citadelle as a vice-regal residence.
The
Quebec Conferences of 1943 and 1944, in which
Winston Churchill,
Franklin D. Roosevelt, and
William Lyon Mackenzie King discussed strategy for
World War II, were held at the Citadelle of Quebec.
The Citadelle is the home station of the
Royal 22e Régiment of the
Canadian Forces. In addition to its use as a military installation, it is also an official residence of the
Governor General of Canada, who by tradition resides there for several weeks out of the year. (The Governor General's primary official residence is
Rideau Hall in
Ottawa.)
Other Canadian official residences
★
Rideau Hall (1 Sussex Drive, Ottawa) - Residence of the
Governor General
★
24 Sussex Drive (Ottawa) - Residence of the
Prime Minister
★
Stornoway - Residence of the
Leader of the Opposition
★
The Farm (Gatineau Park) - Residence of the Speaker of the
House of Commons
★
7 Rideau Gate (Ottawa) - Official guest house of the Canadian government
See also
★
Governor General of Canada
★
Government Houses of Canada
★
Government Houses of the British Empire
External links
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Fortifications of Québec National Historic Site of Canada
★
La Citadelle (Tourisme Québec) and Museum Royal 22e Régiment
★
La Citadelle (Governor General of Canada)