Charlesbourg () is a borough of

Quebec City Quebec City 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 Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

, in the northeastern part of the city, west of the borough of Beauport.

History

The origins of Charlesbourg began with the concession of the seigniory of Notre-Dame-des-Anges in 1626. The seigniory extended from the Charles River northward, encompassing the modern boroughs of Limoilou and Charlesbourg. In 1665, the new Intendant of Justice,

Jean Talon Jean Talon, Count d'Orsainville (; January 8, 1626 – November 23, 1694) was a French colonial administrator who served as the first Intendant of New France. Talon was appointed by King Louis XIV and his minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, t ...

, set out to establish three new villages further north on the plateau. That caused friction with the Jesuits who were the seignors of the area. The first of the villages consisted of a 25-

arpent An arpent (, sometimes called arpen) is a unit of length and a unit of area. It is a pre-metric French unit based on the Roman ''actus''. It is used in Quebec, some areas of the United States that were part of French Louisiana, and in Mauritius ...

square, in which a five-arpent square (the "trait carré") was reserved for the church, presbytery and cemetery. The homes of the settlers located on the periphery of the Trait Carré and their trapezoidal plots of land form a star shape. The second village, which is semicircular due to lack of space, was established just to the south at Petite-Auvergne and the third was established in 1667 in Bourg-Royal, to the northeast. This particular arrangement is still visible from the air and is the hallmark of Charlesbourg. Charlesbourg is, first and foremost, an agricultural area, in addition to becoming a vacation destination for inhabitants of Quebec City in the first half of the 20th century. It became urbanized in the second half of the 20th century and became a suburb of Quebec City. In 1976, the municipalities of Charlesbourg-Est, Notre-Dame-des-Laurentides, Orsainville and the city of Charlesbourg were merged into the city of Charlesbourg. In 2002, Charlesbourg was in turn merged with other municipalities in Quebec City to form a new, large city. Charlesbourg became one of the boroughs of Quebec City. Charlesbourg's earlier name was Bourg Royal, but it was changed in honour of

Charles Borromeo Charles Borromeo (; ; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was an Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic prelate who served as Archdiocese of Milan, Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584. He was made a Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal in 156 ...

, its patron saint. This

Catholic saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

was a leading figure of the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

combat against the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

. An 18th-century British map depicts the place name Charlebourg. Le Trait-Carre de Charlesbourg, vue aerienne de 1937.png, Québec-Parc des Moulins.JPG, Moulin des Jésuites-Québec-2.JPG, ParcDesMoulins-Québec.jpg,

Territory

The territory of the borough is divided in six quarters, only two of which have official names: Notre-Dame-des-Laurentides and Des Jésuites. The borough is also equally divided into five electoral districts for municipal elections. The quarters and districts do not correspond, unlike for other boroughs such as Beauport. The other four quarters have numeric identifiers and will receive official names when neighborhood councils are formed and names are adopted.

Quarters

* Notre-Dame-des-Laurentides *

Des Jésuites Des is a masculine given name, mostly a short form (hypocorism) of Desmond. People named Des include: People * Des Buckingham, English football manager * Des Corcoran, (1928–2004), Australian politician * Des Dillon (disambiguation), severa ...

* Orsainville, officially "Quarter 4-2" Corresponds to the former city of Orsainville. * Bourg-Royal, officially "Quarter 4-3" Corresponds to the former municipality of Charlesbourg-Est. * Trait-Carré, officially "Quarter 4-5" Includes the portion of the borough located west of Henri-Bourassa Boulevard, between the ''Corridor des Cheminots'' to the south and Jean-Talon Boulevard to the North. In particular, the historic borough of Charlesbourg - the Trait-Carré - with the Church of Saint-Charles-Borromée, listed as an historic monument in 1959, as well as the Magella-Paradis House and the Moulin des Jesuites. * Saint-Rodrigue, officially "Quarter 4-6" Corresponds to the former parish of Saint-Rodrigue. It is bounded on the NNW by the

Corridor des Cheminots Corridor or The Corridor may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Corridor'' (1968 film), a 1968 Swedish drama film * ''The Corridor'' (1995 film), a 1995 Lithuanian drama film * ''The Corridor'' (2010 film), a 2010 Canadian ...

, a cycle track located partly on an old railway track. It is a residential service area. The La Fourmilière Primary School dates back to the 1940s and the Catholic church dates to 1962. The "Les Galeries Charlebourg" shopping center and Loblaws supermarket were built on the site of an important fur trading post. The area is also home to the offices of the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources.

Demographics

This residential suburb of Quebec City is the fourth-largest urban centre of the Québec Urban Community. Like Beauport, it has increased by more than 20,000 people over the last 25 years. According to the Canada 2006 Census: *Population: 72,814 *% Change (2001-2006): +3.6 *Dwellings: 33,497 *Area (km²): 66.29 *Density (persons per km²): 1,098.4

Notable residents

Félix Asselin Félix Asselin (born November 17, 1994) is a Canadian curler from Montreal. He currently throws fourth stones on his team which is skipped by Jean-Michel Ménard. Career Asselin skipped Quebec at four Canadian Junior Curling Championships du ...

Steve Barakatt Steve Barakatt (born May 17, 1973) is a Lebanese-Canadian composer, music producer, pianist, singer and creative director. He was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec in 2020 and a National Ambassador of UNICEF Canada (2007-2016). Ear ...

, composer & pianist. *

Alexandre Barrette Alexandre Barrette (born September 30, 1981, in Quebec City, Quebec) is a French Canadian comedian and TV personality. He hosts several TV game shows seen on the V television network. They include '' Taxi Payant'', the French Canadian version ...

Pierre-Stanislas Bédard Pierre-Stanislas Bédard (September 13, 1762 – April 26, 1829) was a lawyer, judge, journalist and political figure in Lower Canada. He was born in Charlesbourg in 1762, descended from French ancestors who had first arrived in New Franc ...

Gaétan Boucher Gaétan T. Boucher (born May 10, 1958) is a former Canadian speed skating Olympic champion. Biography Boucher first trained in ice hockey, the leading sport in Canada but then changed to speed skating after winning a national title in 1972. I ...

, Olympic gold medalist speed skater. *

Marc Chouinard Marc Chouinard (born May 6, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre- winger who played six seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Biography Chouinard was born in Charlesbourg, Quebec City. As a youth, he played in the 199 ...

, former NHL hockey player. * Jean-Philippe Côté *

Noël Dorion Noël Dorion, (July 24, 1904 – March 9, 1980) was a Canadians, Canadian law professor, lawyer and politician. Dorion was Call to the bar, called to the bar in 1927 and was the founding president of the ''Jeune Barreau de Québec'' in 1934. H ...

Jérémy Gabriel Jérémy Gabriel (born December 10, 1996), also known as Le Petit Jeremy''is a French Canadian singer. Biography Gabriel was born in Charlesbourg, Quebec City. At birth he was deaf, and had head, facial, ear and skull deformities. At age 6 mont ...

, singer. *

Nathalie Giguère Nathalie Giguère (born January 16, 1973) is a former breaststroke swimming (sport), swimmer from Canada, who competed for her native country at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. There she finished in sixth position in the women's 200 ...

Jean-Marc Jacob Jean-Marc Jacob (born 18 February 1947) was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 1997. He is a veterinarian by career. He was elected in the Charlesbourg electoral district under the Bloc Québécois party in the 1993 fede ...

Jorane Jorane Pelletier (born October 12, 1975), known professionally as Jorane, is a French-Canadian singer/cellist, who performs pop and alternative music style on the cello. She has released eight full-length studio albums to date. Career Jorane w ...

Richard Marceau Richard Marceau (born August 25, 1970) is a Canadian former Bloc Québécois Member of Parliament, who served as an MP for nearly nine years. He is now Vice President, External Affairs and General Counsel for the Centre for Israel and Jewish A ...

* Pierre Martel *

Jacques Normand Jacques Clary Jean Normand (; 25 November 1848, in Paris – 28 May 1931, in Paris) was a French poet, playwright and writer.The New international year book 1932 " Normand. Jacques Clary Jean. French dramatist, poet, and novelist, died May 28, ...

Bruno Pelletier Bruno Pelletier (; born August 7, 1962) is a Canadian singer, musician, and actor who is known as the “Genius of French Music”, and for playing Pierre Gringoire alongside Daniel Lavoie as Frollo, in English and French. Life Pelletier was ...

, singer and actor. *

Hélène Pelletier Hélène Pelletier (born January 2, 1959) is a Canadian former professional tennis player. Biography Born in Charlesbourg, Pelletier showed talent in water skiing as a child and only took up tennis at the age of 14. She trained for a short time ...

Pascale Picard The Pascale Picard Band is a Canadian rock group from Quebec City, formed by Pascale Picard (vocal and guitar), Philippe Morissette (bass), Marc Chartrain (drums) and Mathieu Cantin (guitar). History The band first made a small appearance during ...

Manon Rhéaume Manon Rhéaume (born February 24, 1972) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender. An Olympic silver medalist, she achieved a number of historic firsts during her career, including becoming the first woman to play in an exhibition game in any o ...

* Pascal Rhéaume * Catherine Roberge *

Andrée Watters Andrée Watters-Michaud (born January 25, 1983) is a Canadian musician and a two-time Félix Award winner from Quebec. Biography Watters was born in Charlesbourg, Quebec, grew up in the Quebec City region and first showed her talent in a Christ ...

, singer.

References