Les Éboulements () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

Capitale-Nationale Capitale-Nationale (; ) is one of the 17 administrative regions of Quebec. It is anchored by the provincial capital, Quebec City, and is largely coextensive with that city's metropolitan area. It has a land area of 18,684.78 km2. It reported ...

region of Quebec, Canada. Its population centres include Les Éboulements (located along Route 362 on the plateau overlooking the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...

), Éboulements-Est (at the feet of Mount Éboulements), Cap-aux-Oies, Sainte-Marie-de-Charlevoix, and Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive (on the shores of the Saint Lawrence facing Saint-Bernard-sur-Mer). Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive, formerly known as Les Éboulements-en-Bas and Quai-des-Éboulements, is the departure point for ferries to L'Isle-aux-Coudres. The municipality is member of the Association of Most Beautiful Villages of Quebec due to its country heritage and to the beautiful architecture and character of its houses.

History

In February 1663, a strong earthquake shook the Charlevoix region and triggered a large

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

down the slopes that characterize the hills of the area to the Saint Lawrence coast. Among the many eyewitnesses that testified to the significance of the event, Gabriel Lalement wrote: "near the Bay called St. Paul, there was a small mountain alongside the river, a quarter of a league in circumference, which was abyssed, and as if it had not done that dive, it came out of the bottom to change into an islet." Thereafter the area was known as ''les Éboulements'' (French for "the landslides"). On April 1, 1683, the Éboulements Seignory was granted to Pierre Lessard by Governor La Barre and Intendant de Meulles, having an area of 1¼ league wide by 2 leagues deep. In 1710, the seignory was acquired by Pierre Tremblay who really began its development and granted concessions to settlers arriving at the beginning of the 18th century. In 1732, the parish was founded. In 1810, the seignory was sold to

Pierre de Sales Laterrière Pierre de Sales Laterrière (; 1743 or 1747 – 14 June 1815), was an adventurer who left France in 1766. He was inspector and director of the ironworking Forges du Saint-Maurice and seigneur of the municipality Les Éboulements in New Franc ...

. In 1845, the municipality was originally established as L'Assomption-de-Notre-Dame-des-Éboulements, but abolished two years later. In 1855, it was reestablished as L'Assomption-de-la-Sainte-Vierge, and in 1859, the seignorial system was abolished by the municipal council. In 1931, the Village Municipality of Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive was formed when it separated from the Municipality of L'Assomption-de-la-Sainte-Vierge. In 1956, the municipality was renamed to Les Éboulements. In 2001, Les Éboulements and Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive were merged and formed the new Municipality of Les Éboulements. On October 13, 1997, a bus travelling down the steep road to Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive failed to slow down and negotiate a turn, crashed through the barriers and plunged over 10 meters into a ravine. This accident killed 44 persons, making it the deadliest road accident in Canadian history. Rolling downhill the ''Route du Port'' in September 2008 the Guinness World Record for

Street luge Street luge is an extreme gravity-powered activity that involves riding a street luge board (sometimes referred to as a sled) down a paved road or course. Street luge is also known as land luge or road luge. Like skateboarding, street luge is o ...

has been established at 157.41 km/h (97 mph).

Geography

Les Éboulements is located in the centre of the

Charlevoix impact structure The Charlevoix impact structure is a large eroded meteorite impact structure in the Charlevoix region of Quebec, Canada. Only part of the impact structure is exposed at the surface, the rest lying beneath the Saint Lawrence River. Description ...

. Mount Éboulements (''Mont des Éboulements''), in the eastern part of the municipality, is considered the central rebound of the Earth's crust following moments after the meteor impact some 350 million years ago. This mountain, appearing on a map in 1837 by H. W. Bayfield as "Mt Eboulemens" , has an altitude of . Rivers within the municipality include the Boudreault and Seigneur Rivers, both small tributaries of the Saint Lawrence River.

Demographics

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents (2021): 643 (total dwellings: 925) Mother tongue (2021): * French as first language: 97.3% * English as first language: 0.3% * English and French as first language: 0% * Other as first language: 2.0%

Arts and culture

The community appears in the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

's films '' On the Sea'' (1960) by René Bonnière and

Pierre Perrault Pierre Perrault (29 June 1927 – 23 June 1999) was a Canadian documentary film director with the National Film Board of Canada. Over his 40-year career, he directed 32 films and was one of Canada's most important filmmakers, although he ...

. and '' Terre de nos aïeux'' (1943) directed by Jane Marsh

References

External links