Charlesbourg is a borough of Quebec City, in the northeastern part of the city, west of the borough of Beauport.

History

The origins of Charlesbourg began with the concession of the seigniory of Notre-Dame-des-Anges in 1626. The seigniory extended from the Charles River northward, encompassing the modern boroughs of Limoilou and Charlesbourg. In 1665, the new Intendant of Justice,

Jean Talon Jean Talon, Count d'Orsainville (; January 8, 1626 – November 23, 1694) was a French colonial administrator who served as the first Intendant of New France. Talon was appointed by King Louis XIV and his minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to ...

, set out to establish three new villages further north on the plateau. That caused friction with the Jesuits who were the seignors of the area. The first of the villages consisted of a 25- arpent square, in which a five-arpent square (the "trait carré") was reserved for the church, presbytery and cemetery. The homes of the settlers located on the periphery of the Trait Carré and their trapezoidal plots of land form a star shape. The second village, which is semicircular due to lack of space, was established just to the south at Petite-Auvergne and the third was established in 1667 in Bourg-Royal, to the northeast. This particular arrangement is still visible from the air and is the hallmark of Charlesbourg. Charlesbourg is, first and foremost, an agricultural area, in addition to becoming a vacation destination for inhabitants of Quebec City in the first half of the 20th century. It became urbanized in the second half of the 20th century and became a suburb of Quebec City. In 1976, the municipalities of Charlesbourg-Est, Notre-Dame-des-Laurentides, Orsainville and the city of Charlesbourg were merged into the city of Charlesbourg. In 2002, Charlesbourg was in turn merged with other municipalities in Quebec City to form a new, large city. Charlesbourg became one of the boroughs of Quebec City. Charlesbourg's earlier name was Bourg Royal, but it was changed in honour of Charles Borromeo, its patron saint. This Catholic saint was a leading figure of the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563 ...

combat against the Protestant Reformation. An 18th-century British map depicts the place name Charlebourg. Le Trait-Carre de Charlesbourg, vue aerienne de 1937.png, Québec-Parc des Moulins.JPG, Moulin des Jésuites-Québec-2.JPG, ParcDesMoulins-Québec.jpg,

Territory

The territory of the borough is divided in six quarters, only two of which have official names: Notre-Dame-des-Laurentides and Des Jésuites. The borough is also equally divided into five electoral districts for municipal elections. The quarters and districts do not correspond, unlike for other boroughs such as Beauport. The other four quarters have numeric identifiers and will receive official names when neighborhood councils are formed and names are adopted.

Quarters

* Notre-Dame-des-Laurentides * Des Jésuites * Orsainville, officially "Quarter 4-2" Corresponds to the former city of Orsainville. * Bourg-Royal, officially "Quarter 4-3" Corresponds to the former municipality of Charlesbourg-Est. * Trait-Carré, officially "Quarter 4-5" Includes the portion of the borough located west of Henri-Bourassa Boulevard, between the ''Corridor des Cheminots'' to the south and Jean-Talon Boulevard to the North. In particular, the historic borough of Charlesbourg - the Trait-Carré - with the Church of Saint-Charles-Borromée, listed as an historic monument in 1959, as well as the Magella-Paradis House and the Moulin des Jesuites. * Saint-Rodrigue, officially "Quarter 4-6" Corresponds to the former parish of Saint-Rodrigue. It is bounded on the NNW by the Corridor des Cheminots, a cycle track located partly on an old railway track. It is a residential service area. The La Fourmilière Primary School dates back to the 1940s and the Catholic church dates to 1962. The "Les Galeries Charlebourg" shopping center and Loblaws supermarket were built on the site of an important fur trading post. The area is also home to the offices of the

Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen ...

Demographics

This residential suburb of Quebec City is the fourth-largest urban centre of the Québec Urban Community. Like Beauport, it has increased by more than 20,000 people over the last 25 years. According to the Canada 2006 Census: *Population: 72,814 *% Change (2001-2006): +3.6 *Dwellings: 33,497 *Area (km²): 66.29 *Density (persons per km²): 1,098.4

Notable residents

* Jean-Michel Anctil * Félix Asselin * Joël Baillargeon * Steve Barakatt, composer & pianist. * Alexandre Barrette *

Pierre-Stanislas Bédard Pierre-Stanislas Bédard (September 13, 1762 – April 26, 1829) was a lawyer, judge, journalist and political figure in Lower Canada. He was born in Charlesbourg in 1762, descended from French ancestors who had first arrived in New France ...

* Patrick Bérubé * Martin Bettencourt * Marc Boilard * Gaétan Boucher, Olympic gold medalist speed skater. * Marc Chouinard, former NHL hockey player. * Jean-Philippe Côté * Maxime De Launière * Noël Dorion * Francis Fortin * Jérémy Gabriel, singer. *

Nathalie Giguère Nathalie Giguère (born January 16, 1973) is a former breaststroke swimmer from Canada, who competed for her native country at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. There she finished in sixth position in the women's 200-metre breaststrok ...

* Jean-Marc Jacob * Jorane *

Richard Marceau Richard Marceau (born August 25, 1970) is a Canadian politician. Marceau was born in Charlesbourg, Quebec City. A lawyer in both Québec and Ontario, Marceau was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1997 federal election fo ...

* Cédrick Marcotte * Pierre Martel * Fernand Lucchesi *

Jacques Normand Jacques Clary Jean Normand (25 November 1848, in Paris – 28 May 1931, in Paris) was a French poet, playwright and writer.The New international year book 1932 " Normand. Jacques Clary Jean. French dramatist, poet, and novelist, died May 28, 1 ...

Bruno Pelletier Bruno Pelletier (born August 7, 1962) is a Canadian singer. Life Pelletier was born in Charlesbourg, a suburb of Quebec City. In 1983 Pelletier performed in the bands Amanite and Sneak Preview, which sang in English. He later started a group ...

, singer and actor. *

Hélène Pelletier Hélène Pelletier (born January 2, 1959) is a Canadian former professional tennis player. Biography Born in Charlesbourg, Quebec City, Charlesbourg, Pelletier showed talent in water skiing as a child and only took up tennis at the age of 14. She ...

* Pascale Picard *

Manon Rhéaume Manon Rhéaume (born February 24, 1972) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender. An Olympic silver medalist, she achieved a number of historic firsts during her career, including becoming the first woman to play in exhibition game in any of t ...

Pascal Rhéaume Pascal Rhéaume (born June 21, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League. He is currently an General Manager and Head Coach for the Trois-Rivières Lions. He is the younger brother of Manon ...

Andrée Watters Andrée Watters-Michaud (born January 25, 1983) is a musician and a two-time Félix Award winner from Quebec Biography Watters was born in Charlesbourg, Quebec, grew up in the Quebec City region and first showed her talent in a Christmas-relate ...

, singer.

References