The Cross of Gaspé is a

monolithic A monolith is a monument or natural feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock. Monolith or monolithic may also refer to: Architecture * Monolithic architecture, a style of construction in which a building is carved, cast or excavated ...

granite cross installed in 1934 in the town of Gaspé,

Quebec 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 thirtee ...

, commissioned by the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of French explorers in Canada. The original Cross of Gaspé was erected on July 24, 1534 overlooking the bay of Gaspé, by the team of

Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier ( , also , , ; br, Jakez Karter; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French-Breton maritime explorer for France. Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of th ...

on his first trip exploration in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Planting the cross symbolized the ownership of the territory on behalf of the King of France,

Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...

. The original wooden cross was probably planted on the edge of the basin north of the York River.

Granite Cross at Gaspé

This cross of Gaspé was commissioned by the federal government at a cost of $7,000 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of French explorer

in the Bay of Gaspé on July 24, 1534. It was unveiled on August 25, 1934. Riviere-a-Pierre 1934 imposante sculpture granit installee

The cross was carved in 1934 from a single block of grey granite, extracted from the Auguste Dumas quarry in Rivière-à-Pierre, Quebec. The cross weighs more than 42 tons and was transported to

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 ...

on two cars by rail from Rivière-à-Pierre. The cross was then carried on a

coaster Coaster (stylized as COASTER) is a commuter rail service in the central and northern coastal regions of San Diego County, California, United States operated by the North County Transit District (NCTD). The commuter rail line features eight s ...

to the Gaspé dock. From the dock, the cross was drawn on rollers using hoists by one of the first tractors to be used in Gaspé and raised using a rail system of pulleys and cables, driven by the strength of many horses and a tractor. A commemorative plaque located at the foot of the cross of Gaspé was inaugurated on August 23, 2009 (75 years after the erection of the granite cross), in memory of artisans of Rivière-à-Pierre, Quebec who extracted and cut this block of granite which become the monolithic cross. The Cross of Gaspé has been located at three sites in Gaspé. From 1934 to 1979 it was on Queen Street facing the current "Place Jacques-Cartier" business centre, on the same site of a Second World War memorial. From 1979 to Fall 2012 it stood on the grounds of the Cathedral of Christ-Roi. In October 2012, it was moved to a new site "Gaspé, Berceau du

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

" (Gaspé, Cradle of

), on the water near the Gaspé bridge.Marie-Claude Costisella, Article. "La croix de Gaspé déménage" (The cross of Gaspé moved), the Pharillon, published on October 18, 2012

Replica of the cross at Rivière-à-Pierre (Quebec, Canada)

A replica of the cross was cut by Rivière-à-Pierre craftsmen and erected in the heart of the village of Rivière-à-Pierre located in

Batiscanie Batiscanie is the watershed of the Batiscan River, located in the center of the province of Quebec, Canada, covering 4690 km² on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence River. The area covered by Batiscanie is 53% in the administrative région o ...

, in the province of

, Canada. This cross of granite is half the height of the original cross of Gaspé.

Cross of Saint-Malo, France

A cross was erected at the Solidor Tower in (

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

to mark the erection of a wooden cross on July 24, 1534 by the French explorer

in Gaspé.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross of Gaspe Buildings and structures in Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine Buildings and structures in Gaspé, Quebec