Saint-Casimir is a small village of about 1800 people in the

Portneuf Regional County Municipality Portneuf is a regional county municipality (RCM) in the Capitale-Nationale administrative region of Quebec, Canada. RCM of Portneuf has been established on January 1, 1982. It is composed of 21 municipalities: nine cities, seven municipalities, ...

in the province of

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 ...

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 ...

. It is located on the

Sainte-Anne River The Sainte-Anne River is a tributary of the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River, whose mouth is located at Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade. This river flows in the province of Quebec, Canada, in the administrative regions of: * Capitale-Nationale: ...

, about southwest of

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

and northeast of

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of ...

. It was founded in 1836 by people who came from Ste-Anne-de-la-Pérade following to the east along the Sainte-Anne. The name of Saint-Casimir was given in honour of Mr. Casimir Déry, a notary who paid for the construction of the church, which is in the top 10 of the most beautiful churches in the province of Québec. In turn, the church, and the town, is named after

Saint Casimir Casimir Jagiellon ( la, Casimirus; lt, Kazimieras; pl, Kazimierz; 3 October 1458 – 4 March 1484) was a prince of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Second son of King Casimir IV Jagiellon, he was tutored by Johannes ...

, a

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, Lithuania, and youth. Two provincial numbered roads go through St-Casimir: Route 354 (east-west - from Ste-Anne de la Pérade to St-Raymond) and Route 363 (south-north - from Deschambault to Lac-aux-Sables). Both roads lead to Autoroute 40, the Montreal-Québec City link on the north shore. Five rivers run in Saint-Casimir: Sainte-Anne, Niagarette, Petite Niagarette, Blanche and Noire. Saint-Casimir is also the home to a

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

rn, the "

Trou du Diable The Trou du Diable (translated in English as Devil's Hole) is a cave situated in St-Casimir, in the province of Quebec, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocea ...

" ("Devil's Hole"). It is the second-longest cave in Québec, at . It was formed by the former tributary of the Sainte-Anne River, which left behind a stream. Many tourists pass through it every summer. It is the place where poet Alain Grandbois was born in 1900.

Demographics

Population trend:Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 census * Population in 2011: 1500 (2006 to 2011 population change: -1.8%) * Population in 2006: 1528 * Population in 2001: 1582 * Population total in 1996: 1783 ** Saint-Casimir (municipality): 1347 ** Saint-Casimir (parish): 436 * Population in 1991: ** Saint-Casimir (municipality): 1331 ** Saint-Casimir (parish): 430 Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 670 (total dwellings: 736) Mother tongue: * English as first language: 0% * French as first language: 99% * English and French as first language: 0% * Other as first language: 1%

Disasters

On the morning of March 23, 1997, five members of the

Order of the Solar Temple The Order of the Solar Temple (french: Ordre du Temple solaire, OTS) and the International Chivalric Organization of the Solar Tradition, or simply The Solar Temple, is a cult and religious sect that claims to be based upon the ideals of the ...

took their own lives in Saint-Casimir. A small house exploded into flames, leaving behind five charred bodies for the police to pull from the rubble. Three teenagers—13, 14 and 16, the children of one of the couples that died in the fire —- are discovered in a shed behind the house, alive but heavily drugged. In the summer of 1973, a wave on the Niagarette devastated a small area, where it joins the Sainte-Anne River. A few houses were destroyed by the powerful water wave, due to strong rain, and debris that blocked the small river for a few hours.

References

External links

Station Météo St-Casimir

Auberge du Couvent (french)

{{authority control Municipalities in Quebec Incorporated places in Capitale-Nationale

Demographics

Disasters

See also

References

External links