Governors' Garden - One Monument, Two Generals
Photo: Jeangagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
A stop on Old Quebec City Walking Tour, a free self-guided tour.
This shady little park beside the Chateau Frontenac was once the private garden of the governors who lived in the Chateau Saint-Louis on the cliff edge. Today it's a quiet spot with benches, flowers and one remarkable monument.
The tall stone obelisk honours the two commanders of the 1759 battle on the Plains of Abraham: James Wolfe, who led the British, and the Marquis de Montcalm, who led the French. Both were mortally wounded in the fight. It was unveiled in 1828 under the British governor Lord Dalhousie, and it is unusual among war memorials for giving the winner and the loser equal honour.
Read the Latin inscription on the base. In English it says, roughly, that their courage gave them a common death, history a common fame, and posterity a common monument. Keep that idea in mind, because the battlefield where both men fell is a few stops ahead on this walk.
Getting here: Step off the funicular onto Dufferin Terrace, walk south past the Chateau and take the steps on your right into the small park.
Did you know?: The Wolfe-Montcalm obelisk was unveiled in 1828, making it one of the oldest monuments in Quebec City.
Photo op: Frame the obelisk against the green copper roofs and towers of the Chateau Frontenac behind it.
More on Wikipedia: Governors' Garden · Wolfe-Montcalm Monument · James Wolfe · Louis-Joseph de Montcalm
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