The Citadelle - Star Fort on Cap Diamant
Photo: Gabriel Picard, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
A stop on Old Quebec City Walking Tour, a free self-guided tour.
Ahead of you, behind grassy slopes and stone walls, is the Citadelle of Quebec, set on Cap Diamant, the highest point of the city. From here you mostly see earthworks and the gate, and that's by design: the fort was built low and hidden so attacking guns had little to aim at.
The British built it between 1820 and 1850, under engineer Elias Walker Durnford, to guard against an American invasion that never came. Seen from above it forms an uneven star with four bastions, a shape meant to leave no blind spot for defenders.
It has never stopped being military. The Royal 22nd Regiment, the famous French-speaking Van Doos, has been based here since 1920, and the Governor General of Canada keeps an official residence inside. Guided tours and a museum are run inside the walls; check the website for current times. Listen at midday for the cannon that still fires as a time signal.
Getting here: Walk west along Rue Saint-Louis almost to the city gate, then turn left and climb Cote de la Citadelle to the fort's entrance.
Did you know?: In 1943 and 1944 the Citadelle, along with the Chateau Frontenac, hosted the Quebec Conferences between Roosevelt and Churchill.
Photo op: Frame the stone gate at the top of Cote de la Citadelle with the earthen ramparts rising on either side.
More on Wikipedia: Citadelle of Quebec · Royal 22e Regiment · Elias Walker Durnford
Stops on this tour
- Dufferin Terrace - A Boardwalk on the Cliff
- Rue du Tresor - The Artists' Alley
- Notre-Dame de Quebec - Mother Church of New France
- Seminaire de Quebec - Where a University Began
- Breakneck Stairs - The Steep Way Down
- Place Royale - Where Quebec Began
- Quartier Petit Champlain - Shops Beneath the Cliff
- Old Quebec Funicular - The Easy Way Up
- Governors' Garden - One Monument, Two Generals
- The Citadelle - Star Fort on Cap Diamant
- Plains of Abraham - Thirty Minutes That Changed a Continent
- Parliament Building - Je Me Souviens
- Porte Saint-Louis - Gateway Through the Walls