Place Royale (, meaning "Royal Square") is a historic

square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...

in the centre 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 ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, 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, ...

, Canada.

History

In 1608, the French explorer

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 ...

established the Habitation de Québec, settlement that would become Quebec City on the site of Place Royale. For this reason, the square is often referred to as “the cradle of French civilization in America." By the 1620s, the square hosted the city's first market, inspiring its original name of ''Market Square'' ( French: ''Place du Marché''). The settlement would develop rapidly during the 17th century, forming what is now called the Lower Town (French: ''Basse-Ville'') of Quebec City. A fire in 1682 ravaged the wood structures of the settlement, prompting the construction of new stone buildings that would establish the architectural style of the square. In 1686, a bust of

King Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any monar ...

was erected in the square by

Intendant An intendant (; ; ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the War of the Spanish Success ...

Jean Bochart de Champigny, inspiring its current name of Place Royale. Place Royale would experience significant destruction at the hands of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

of General

James Wolfe Major-general James Wolfe (2 January 1727 – 13 September 1759) was a British Army officer known for his training reforms and, as a major general, remembered chiefly for his victory in 1759 over the French at the Battle of the Plains of ...

in the 1759

Battle of the Plains of Abraham The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec (), was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War (referred to as the French and Indian War to describe the North American theatre). The battle, which took place on 13 Sept ...

, a pivotal battle in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. The advent in the 19th century of the industrial revolution, which favored metal over wood, and the growth of the port of Montreal led Place Royale to lose its role as a commercial hub. A restoration project in the second half of the 20th Century removed additions made to the square from the period of British control onwards, returning to the space its original French colonial character and architecture. The project, started in 1970, cost $20 million .

In popular culture

Place Royale was used as a stand-in for

Montrichard Montrichard () is a town and former commune in the Loir-et-Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Montrichard Val de Cher. During the French Revolution, the commune was known as . ...

, France in the 2002

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

film ''

Catch Me If You Can ''Catch Me If You Can'' is a 2002 American crime comedy-drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks with Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Nathalie Baye, Amy Adams, and James Brolin in ...

''.

References

{{Navboxes , list = {{Greater Quebec {{Canada capitals {{Subdivisions of Quebec City {{New France {{Chemin du Roy Buildings and structures in Quebec City 1608 in North America 1600s in Canada 1608 in New France