Charlesbourg is a borough of

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), 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 Communauté métrop ...

, 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, 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 An arpent (, sometimes called arpen) is a unit of length and a unit of area. It is a pre-metric French unit based on the Roman ''actus''. It is used in Quebec, some areas of the United States that were part of French Louisiana, and in Mauritius ...

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 Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat a ...

, its patron saint. This

Catholic saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Orth ...

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) a ...

combat against the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. 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 Des is a masculine given name, mostly a short form (hypocorism) of Desmond (name), Desmond. People named Des include: People * Des Buckingham, English football manager * Des Corcoran, (1928–2004), Australian politician * Des Dillon (disambig ...

* 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 Corridor or The Corridor may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Corridor'' (1968 film), a 1968 Swedish drama film * ''The Corridor'' (1995 film), a 1995 Lithuanian drama film * ''The Corridor'' (2010 film), a 2010 Canadia ...

, 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.

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 Félix Asselin (born November 17, 1994) is a Canadian curler from Montreal. He currently skips his own team out of Montreal, Quebec. Career Asselin skipped Quebec at four Canadian Junior Curling Championships during his junior career in 2012, ...

* Joël Baillargeon *

Steve Barakatt Steve Barakatt (born May 17, 1973) is a Canadian composer, music producer, pianist, singer and creative director. He was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec in 2020 and he is a former National Ambassador of UNICEF Canada. Early years ...

, composer & pianist. *

Alexandre Barrette Alexandre Barrette (born September 30, 1981, in Quebec City, Quebec) is a French Canadian comedian and TV personality. He hosts several TV game shows seen on the V television network. They include '' Taxi Payant'', the French Canadian version of ...

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 Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

Marc Boilard Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

Gaétan Boucher Gaétan T. Boucher, (born May 10, 1958), is a Canadian former speed skating Olympic champion. Biography Boucher first trained in ice hockey, the leading sport in Canada but then changed to speed skating after winning a national title in 1972. ...

, Olympic gold medalist speed skater. *

Marc Chouinard Marc Chouinard (born May 6, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre- winger who played six seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Biography Chouinard was born in Charlesbourg, Quebec City. As a youth, he played in the 199 ...

, former NHL hockey player. *

Jean-Philippe Côté Jean-Phillipe Marc Joseph Côté (born April 22, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He appeared in 27 games in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2005–06 and 2 ...

* Maxime De Launière *

Noël Dorion Noël Dorion, (July 24, 1904 – March 9, 1980) was a Canadian law professor, lawyer and politician. Dorion was called to the bar in 1927 and was the founding president of the ''Jeune Barreau de Québec'' in 1934. He was the crown attorney who ...

Francis Fortin Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places *Rural Mu ...

Jérémy Gabriel Jérémy Gabriel (born December 10, 1996), also known as Le Petit Jérémy, is a French Canadian singer. Biography Gabriel was born in Charlesbourg, Quebec City. At birth he was deaf, and had head, facial, ear and skull deformities. At age 6 mo ...

, singer. * Nathalie Giguère *

Jean-Marc Jacob Jean-Marc Jacob (born 18 February 1947) was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 1997. He is a veterinarian by career. He was elected in the Charlesbourg electoral district under the Bloc Québécois party in the 1993 fed ...

Jorane Jorane Pelletier (born October 12, 1975), known professionally as Jorane, is a French-Canadian singer/cellist, who performs pop and alternative music style on the cello, a typically classical instrument, while singing at the same time. She has r ...

* Richard Marceau * Cédrick Marcotte *

Pierre Martel Jean Gagné (July 19, 1947 – October 21, 2016) was a French–Canadian professional wrestler and manager, best known under the ring name Frenchy Martin. During his World Wrestling Federation heyday in the 1980s as the manager of Canadian wrest ...

* Fernand Lucchesi * Jacques Normand * Bruno Pelletier, singer and actor. * Hélène Pelletier *

Pascale Picard The Pascale Picard Band is a Canadian rock group from Quebec City, formed by Pascale Picard (vocal and guitar), Philippe Morissette (bass), Marc Chartrain (drums) and Mathieu Cantin (guitar). History The band first made a small appearance during ...

* Manon Rhéaume * Pascal Rhéaume * Andrée Watters, singer.

References