Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs (, meaning "Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows") is an island municipality in the

Bas-Saint-Laurent The Bas-Saint-Laurent (, 'Lower Saint-Lawrence) is an administrative region of Quebec located along the south shore of the lower Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The river widens at this place, later becoming a bay that discharges into the Atlan ...

region of Quebec, Canada, part of the

Rivière-du-Loup Regional County Municipality Rivière-du-Loup () is a regional county municipality in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada. Its most important city is Rivière-du-Loup, which contains more than half of the population. Major industries include pulp and paper, ot ...

. It is located on and contiguous with Île Verte (French for "Green Island") in the Estuary of St. Lawrence, about north-east of

Rivière-du-Loup Rivière-du-Loup (; 2021 population 20,118) is a small city (Quebec), city on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The city is the seat for the Rivière-du-Loup Regional County Municipality and the Judicial districts of Quebec ...

. The name Île Verte was given in 1621 by

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...

written "Isle Verte". With a population of only 71 persons, Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs is one of the smallest municipalities in Canada. It is home to Île-Verte Lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse in Quebec (built in 1809). The main economic activities are fishing and tourism. Many fish

smokehouse A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is curing (food preservation), cured with Smoking (cooking), smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.

History

The island was first mentioned in the Jesuit Reports of 1663 following a shipwreck which forced Henri Nouvel to stay there for about ten days. On 10 June 1816, half the Nova Scotia Fencibles, some 210 officers and other ranks, together with 48 wives and children, were on board the ''Archduke Charles'' when it wrecked near Green Island. Four soldiers, two wives, and two children lost their lives. In 1874, the municipality was formed out of the parish of La Décollation-de-Saint-Jean-Baptiste on 18 November, which led to its name "Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs" since this date corresponded to the Day of

Our Lady of Sorrows Our Lady of Sorrows (), Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows (), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are Titles of Mary, names by which Mary, mother of Jesus, is referr ...

on the

liturgical calendar The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year, ecclesiastical calendar, or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical days and seasons that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be obs ...

at that time. However the municipality only existed on paper. The community formed in isolation and life on the island was governed by traditional customs, so people had little need for municipal management, which would have been a family affair anyway. Finally on 5 February 1912, the first council meeting took place. Today, the biggest family to occupy the Island is the Fraser of

Scottish Canadian Scottish Canadians () are people of Scottish descent or heritage living in Canada. As the third-largest ethnic group in Canada and amongst the first Europeans to settle in the country, Scottish people have made a large impact on Canadian cultur ...

descent.

Geography

Verte Island is about from the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, roughly long with a maximum width of . It has a maximum elevation of .

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Mother tongue (2021): * English as first language: 0% * French as first language: 100% * English and French as first language: 0% * Other as first language: 0%

Attractions

Thanks to its isolation, the island has preserved its high-quality architectural heritage, such as the Île-Verte Lighthouse, and a rural landscape from another era that is attracting more and more tourists.

References

External links