Rue du Petit-Champlain (English: Little Champlain Street) is a street in the Canadian city 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 ...

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 ...

. It is located in the Petit Champlain

commercial district A commercial district or commercial zone is any part of a city or town in which the primary land use is Commerce, commercial activities (Retailing, shops, offices, Theater (structure), theaters, restaurants and so on), as opposed to a residential ...

, at the foot of

Cap Diamant Cap Diamant (English: Cape Diamond) is a cape on an edge of the Promontory of Quebec and on which Quebec City is located, formed by the confluence of a bend in the St. Lawrence River to the south and east, and the much smaller Saint-Charles River t ...

, and contains many

boutique A boutique () is a small shop that deals in fashionable clothing or accessories. The word is French for "shop", which derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (''apothēkē'') "storehouse". The term ''boutique'' and also ''d ...

shops. Quartier du Petit Champlain is claimed to be the oldest commercial district in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. It is named for

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 ...

, who founded Quebec City in 1608. Rue du Petit-Champlain is around long, and runs from its convergence with Rue Sous-le-Fort in the north to Boulevard Champlain in the south. A popular viewing point of the street, the Breakneck Stairs (or Breakneck Steps), are located at the northern end of the street. Just beyond the steps is the lower entrance of the Funiculaire du Vieux-Québec, an electric

cableway Cable transport is a broad class of transport modes that have cables. They transport passengers and goods, often in vehicles called cable cars. The cable may be driven or passive, and items may be moved by pulling, sliding, sailing, or by driv ...

established in 1879. It takes passengers up and down Cap Diamant to and from

Dufferin Terrace Terrasse Dufferin (Dufferin Terrace) is a boardwalk that wraps around the Château Frontenac in Quebec City, Quebec, towards the Citadelle, overlooking the St. Lawrence River. History The terrace was built under the direction of the Marquess o ...

, beside the

Château Frontenac The Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, commonly referred to as the Château Frontenac, is a historic hotel in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The hotel is situated in Old Quebec, within the historic district's Upper Town, on the southern side of Place d ...

. It climbs at a 45-degree angle, covering a total distance of . Around halfway along the street, on its western side, is Parc Félix-Leclerc. The western side of the street contains frontages of buildings, in the shadow of Cap Diamant to their rears, whereas the rears of the buildings facing Boulevard Champlain occupy the eastern side. A

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

painted on the side of the building at number 102 is a

trompe-l'œil ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...

measuring 100m² (900 ft²). It represents the history of the district, the bombardments of 1759, the landslides, and the fires which have occurred in the district.

Gallery

File:Rue du Petit-Champlain 07.JPG, The street in winter File:QuebecFuniculaire.JPG, View from the Funiculaire du Vieux-Québec, looking down on Rue Sous-le-Fort (straight ahead) and Rue du Petit-Champlain to the right File:Rue du Petit-Champlain 04.jpg, The southern end of the street, at its junction with Boulevard Champlain, with the

above File:Vieux Quebec.-. rue du Petit-Champlain (1).JPG, The '' fresque du Petite-Champlain'', on the northern

gable end A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

of number 102 File:Little Champlain Street, Quebec City, QC, about 1890 (3421927530).jpg, The street around 1890, when it was a

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of bridge ...

File:Quartier Vieux-Quebec-Basse-Ville - Rue Petit-Champlain BAnQ P560S1P442.jpg, A circa-1900 view of the street

References

External links

{{commons Petit Champlain Petit Champlain 1680s establishments in Canada 1688 establishments in New France Petit Champlain