Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs (, meaning "Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows") is an island municipality in the

Bas-Saint-Laurent The Bas-Saint-Laurent (Lower Saint-Lawrence), is an administrative region of Quebec located along the south shore of the lower Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The river widens at this place, later becoming a bay that discharges into the Atlanti ...

region of Quebec, Canada, part of the

Rivière-du-Loup Regional County Municipality Rivière-du-Loup is a regional county municipality in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada. Its most important city is Rivière-du-Loup, which contains more than half of the population. Major industries include pulp and paper, other woo ...

. It is located on and contiguous with Île Verte (French for "Green Island") in the

Estuary of St. Lawrence The estuary of the Saint Lawrence in Quebec, Canada, is one of the largest esturaries in the world. Situation The estuary of the St. Lawrence River is located downstream of the St. Lawrence River and upstream of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It ...

, about north-east of

Rivière-du-Loup Rivière-du-Loup (; 2021 population 20,118) is a small city on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The city is the seat for the Rivière-du-Loup Regional County Municipality and the judicial district of Kamouraska. Its one of ...

. The name Île Verte was given in 1621 by

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fre ...

written "Isle Verte". With a population of only 71 persons, Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs is one of the smallest municipalities in Canada. It is home to the oldest lighthouse in Quebec (built in 1809). The main economic activities are fishing and tourism. Many fish

smokehouse A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with t ...

s are present on the island. In addition to the oldest lighthouse in Quebec, its pastoral character, skeleton museum, many artists and heritage homes also attract tourists.

Geography

Verte Island is about from the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, roughly long with a maximum width of . It has a maximum elevation of .

History

The island was first mentioned in the Jesuit Reports of 1663 following a shipwreck which forced

Henri Nouvel Henri Nouvel (1621 or 1624 in Pezenas, Herault (France) – between October 1701 and October 1702 at the St. Francis Xavier Mission near Baie des Puants) was a Jesuit priest who spent forty years as a missionary to Native American communities ...

to stay there for about ten days. On 10 June 1816, half the

Nova Scotia Fencibles The Nova Scotia Fencibles were a military regiment raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1803. The unit had red uniforms with yellow facings. History The Nova Scotia Fencibles were the only regiment stationed in Newfoundland in 1812. Although p ...

, some 210 officers and other ranks, together with 48 wives and children, were on board the ''Archduke Charles'' when it wrecked near Green Island. Four soldiers, two wives, and two children lost their lives. In 1874, the municipality was formed out of the parish of La Décollation-de-Saint-Jean-Baptiste on November 18, which led to its name "Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs" since this date corresponded to the Day of

Our Lady of Sorrows Our Lady of Sorrows ( la, Beata Maria Virgo Perdolens), Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows ( la, Mater Dolorosa, link=no), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names ...

on the

liturgical calendar The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and which ...

at that time. However the municipality only existed on paper. The community formed in isolation and life on the island was governed by traditional customs, so people had little need for municipal management, which would have been a family affair anyway. Finally on February 5, 1912, the first council meeting took place. Today, the biggest family to occupy the Island is the Fraser of

Scottish Canadian Scottish Canadians are people of Scottish descent or heritage living in Canada. As the third-largest ethnic group in Canada and amongst the first Europeans to settle in the country, Scottish people have made a large impact on Canadian culture s ...

descent.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Mother tongue (2021): * English as first language: 0% * French as first language: 100% * English and French as first language: 0% * Other as first language: 0%

References

External links

{{authority control Incorporated places in Bas-Saint-Laurent Parish municipalities in Quebec

Geography

History

Demographics

See also

References

External links