Berthier-sur-Mer (, ) is a town in the

Montmagny Regional County Municipality Montmagny () is a regional county municipality (RCM) in the Chaudière-Appalaches region of Quebec, Canada. Montmagny is the seat. Its neighbouring RCMs are Bellechasse, Les Etchemins, and L'Islet. This area was named after Charles de Montmag ...

within the

Chaudière-Appalaches Chaudière-Appalaches (, ) is an administrative region in Quebec, Canada. It comprises most of what is historically known as the " Beauce" (; compare with the electoral district of Beauce). It is named for the Chaudière River and the Appalachia ...

region of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. It is located on the south shore of the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

, east of

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

on Route 132.

History

Berthier-sur-Mer was named after

Alexandre Berthier Alexandre Berthier (; 1638–1708) was a captain in the Allier Regiment of the French Royal Army and later a seigneur in New France. Born into a Huguenot family, he was named Issac at birth but adopted the name Alexandre after converting to Roman ...

, a captain in the

Carignan-Salières Regiment The Carignan-Salières Regiment was a 17th-century French military unit formed by the merging of two other regiments in 1659. Approximately 1,100 men from the regiment were sent to New France in 1665 to deal with the threat of the Iroquois to the ...

, who was given title to this area in 1672. A year later, Berthier acquired another concession in the Lanaudière region, and his seignories became known as Berthier-en-bas (Lower Berthier) and Berthier-en-Haut (Upper Berthier, now

Berthierville Berthierville (; ) (also called Berthier-en-haut, and legally called Berthier before 1942) is a town located between Montreal and Trois-Rivières on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. Berthierville is the seat of D'Aut ...

). In 1722, the Parish of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption-de-Bellechasse was created, but the place was called Berthier-en-bas in common use. In 1845, the Parish Municipality of Berthier en bas was formed, dissolved in 1847, and reestablished in 1855. On August 29, 1971, the parish municipality was renamed to Berthier-sur-Mer, following the local practice of referring to the St. Lawrence River as a sea at this point due to its increasing width, tides, and salinity. On February 7, 2004, it changed statutes and became a regular municipality.

Demographics

Geology

A strip of rather interesting underlying sedimentary bedrock maintains a relatively straight shoreline through which a natural harbour, quite round in shape, has been eroded. The bedrock is set at about a 60 to 80° angle and is composed of hundreds of very thin layers of red shale interspersed every meter or so with layers of what appears to be limestone. It is quite dramatic in places where it hasn't been worn down by human activities.

Notable people

Victor Allard Victor Allard (February 1, 1860 – June 3, 1931) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Quebec. He represented Berthier in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1892 to 1897 as a Conservative. He was born in Saint-Cuthbert, Canada ...

, mayor of Berthier from 1899 to 1903 and from 1912 to 1915 *

Camille Roy Camille Roy may refer to: * Camille Roy (politician) * Camille Roy (literary critic) {{hndis, Roy, Camille ...

, literary critic *

Paul-Eugène Roy Paul-Eugène Roy (8 November 1859 – 20 February 1926) was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest, and Archbishop of Quebec. External links * Catholic-Hierarchy entry* 1859 births 1926 deaths Roman Catholic archbishops of Quebec 20th- ...

, Archbishop of Quebec *

Jean-Marc Vallée Jean-Marc Vallée (March 9, 1963December 25, 2021) was a Canadian filmmaker, film editor, and screenwriter. After studying film at the Université de Montréal, Vallée went on to make a number of critically acclaimed short films, including '' ...

, filmmaker

References

External links