Saint-Roch () is a downtown neighbourhood in the borough of La Cité in

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. It is the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

. Once a working-class quarter, some of its parts have been

gentrified Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has been us ...

in recent years.

History

Saint-Roch was first settled in 1620 by the

Recollects The Franciscan Recollects () were a French reform branch of the Friars Minor, a Franciscan order. Denoted by their gray habits and pointed hoods, the Recollects devoted their lives to an extra emphasis on prayer, penance, and spiritual reflecti ...

, who built a small church dedicated to

Saint Roch Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79; traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327), also called Rock in English, was a Majorcan Catholic confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he was especially invo ...

. Today the

Église Saint-Roch The Church of Saint-Roch (, ) is a 17th–18th-century French Baroque architecture, French Baroque and classical style church in Paris, dedicated to Saint Roch. It is located at 284 rue Saint-Honoré, in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arro ...

is the largest in Quebec City. Later, a few houses were built near what is now the

Gare du Palais Gare du Palais (, "Palace Station") is a train and bus station in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Its name comes from its proximity to the former location of the Palace of the Intendant of New France. It is served by Via Rail, Canada's national pas ...

. In the first half of the 19th century, Saint-Roch was a

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

site. Later, the district saw the development of retail and manufacturing activity. From the mid-19th century to the 1960s, rue Saint-Joseph was the main commercial street in Quebec City. Part of the street was covered with a roof of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

and

plexiglass Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a synthetic polymer derived from methyl methacrylate. It is a transparent thermoplastic, used as an engineering plastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and bran ...

in 1974. The decision to progressively demolish the roof (and thus the mall) was taken in the 1990s, and the destruction was completed in 2007. During the second half of the 20th century, the district fell into decline and was considered the most deprived in the city. However, Since 2000, $380 million have been invested in the district to renovate and reconstruct most of the buildings in rue Saint-Joseph. Many working-class residential buildings, representing one tenth of the area of Saint-Roch, were demolished in 1972 to make way for an

overpass An overpass, called an overbridge or flyover (for a road only) in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries, is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that is over another road or railway. An ''overpass'' and '' underpa ...

of highway 440 (''Dufferin-Montmorency'' segment), as a way to accommodate the post-Second World War

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

expansion and automobile use. The empty lot on which the concrete pillars were built was used for public art, and later for illegal

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

and authorized large-scale '' trompe-l'œil murals''. This unofficial area was called ''Îlot Fleurie'' ( ''fr''), because of nearby Fleurie street. It was also a socializing place for protesters during the 2001 Summit of the Americas, as well as where the

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...

free show '' Les Chemins invisibles'' was held in the summers between 2010 and 2012.

Gallery

References

{{coord, 46, 49, 00, N, 71, 13, 40, W, type:city_region:CA-QC, display=title Neighbourhoods in Quebec City Central business districts in Canada Gentrification in Canada Canada geography articles needing translation from French Wikipedia