Fort Plaisance was a French fort built in the 17th century on the island of
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
at the time of the
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
.
In 1662, the French established a strategic trading post in a well protected cove overlooking Placentia Bay that separates Avalon from the rest of the island of Newfoundland, located close to Grand Banks.
To protect this place, several forts were built around the cove, Fort Plaisance in 1662,
Fort Royal
Fort-de-France (, , ; gcf, label= Martinican Creole, Fodfwans) is a commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. It is also one of the major cities in the Caribbean.
Histo ...
in 1687, and
Fort Saint Louis in 1690.
Fort Plaisance was built inside the harbor in order to protect the small port city of
Plaisance from an attack enemy.
During its construction, the Fort Plaisance had earthen ramparts reinforced by wooden stakes. In the beginning it had four guns. Its armament was gradually increased and in 1667, the fort had 32 guns.
In 1713, the
Treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...
forced the French to abandon their settlements in Newfoundland. 'Plaisance' become 'Placentia'. The French inhabitants were moved to
Île Royale
The Salvation Islands (french: Îles du Salut, so called because the missionaries went there to escape plague on the mainland; sometimes mistakenly called Safety Islands) are a group of small islands of volcano, volcanic origin about off the coa ...
which began the construction of
Louisbourg
Louisbourg is an unincorporated community and former town in Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia.
History
The French military founded the Fortress of Louisbourg in 1713 and its fortified seaport on the southwest part of the harbour, ...
.
See also
*
List of French forts in North America
This is a list of forts in New France built by the French government or French chartered companies in what later became Canada, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and the United States. They range from large European-type citadels like at Quebec City to ...
*
Castle Hill, Newfoundland and Labrador
Castle Hill is an area containing the remains of both French and British fortifications, overlooking the town of Placentia ( French: ''Plaisance'') in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The site was originally established in order to protect ...
External links
*http://www.heritage.nf.ca/patrimoine/exploration/forts_f.html
*http://www.pc.gc.ca/fra/lhn-nhs/nl/castlehill/natcul/histor.aspx
{{NLMilitary, state=collapsed
Saint Louis
1662 establishments in the French colonial empire