The Lake of the Cross is located in
Upper Batiscanie, in the municipality of
Lac-Édouard in
La Tuque (census division), in the administrative region the
Mauricie
Mauricie () is a traditional and current administrative region of Quebec. La Mauricie National Park is contained within the region, making tourism in Mauricie popular. The region has a land area of 35,860.05 km2 (13,845.64 sq mi) and a popu ...
in
province of Quebec
Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...
, in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. Located about (by water) of
Lac Édouard (Quebec) which is the head of
Batiscan River, the "Lake of the cross" is a segment of path of the
Batiscan river, near
Triton Club. This wild sector grew on forestry and tourism upon the arrival of the railway
CNR (subdivision
Lac-Saint-Jean) connecting
Hervey-Jonction to
Chambord (
Lac Saint-Jean
Lac Saint-Jean (, ) is a large, relatively shallow lake in south-central Quebec, Canada, in the Laurentian Highlands. It is situated north of the Saint Lawrence River, into which it drains via the Saguenay River. It covers an area of , and is ...
), through the
Lac-Édouard, in the late 19th century.
Toponymy
The French toponym "Lac à la croix" (Lake of the Cross) was formalized on December 5, 1968, at the Bank of place names in
Commission de toponymie du Québec
The Commission de toponymie du Québec (, ''Toponymy Commission of Québec'') is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicizing Québec's place names and their origins according to th ...
(Geographical Names Board of Quebec). The name of the lake is in harmony with the other place names located at the area east of the "Lake of the cross". These toponyms are tinged with Christianity Lake Charity which flows into the
Batiscan River and its tributaries upstream: "Petite Charité 1" (Little Charity 1), "Petite Charité 2" (Little Charity 2), Lac l'Espérance (Lake of Hope) and "Lac Petite Espérance" (lake of Small Hope). While the "Lac de la foi" (lake of faith) (neighbor on the east side) flows eastward into Lake "Trois Caribou" (Three Caribou). These various lakes are connected by footpaths of the Lordship of Triton. The maps of the area still shows the layout of ancient paths connecting the lakes. The development of inter-lake trails and place names are similar to a good sector of pilgrimage that were once popular.
In addition, fifty kilometers (by water) separates the mouth of the lake to the Cross and the
Island of the cross (Quebec) (downstream in the middle of the
Batiscan).
[Search powered by historian Gaetan Veillette (Saint-Hubert, QC), from maps.]
In June 2013, the Bank of place names in
Geographical Names Board of Canada
The Geographical Names Board of Canada (GNBC) is a national committee with a secretariat in Natural Resources Canada, part of the Government of Canada, which authorizes the names used and name changes on official federal government maps of Canad ...
has 60 homonyms related to "Lake of the cross" 29 names "lac à la Croix" (Lake of the cross), 12 "Lac en Croix" (Lake in Cross), 10 "Lac de la Croix" (Cross Lake), 3 "Lac la Croix" (Cross Lake), 5 "Petit Lac à la Croix" (Little Lake of the Cross) (including some variants in writing) and on "Lac La Croix". In addition, several other variants complicate the toponymy of Quebec and Canada: "Pointe à la Croix" (Tip of the cross), "Rose-Croix" (Rosy Cross), Sainte-Croix (St. Croix), Anse-à-la-Croix (Anse of the cross), "Chemin de la Croix" (Stations of the Cross), Ile-de-la-Croix (
Island of the cross), Montagne-de-la-Croix (mountain of the Cross), Pointe-de-la-Croix (Tip of the cross), "Rivière de la Croix" (River of the cross) and "rue de la Croix" (Street of the cross).
See also
*
Batiscanie
*
Cookies Lake
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake of the cross
Lakes of Mauricie
Landforms of La Tuque, Quebec