The Old Port of Quebec City lies along the St. Lawrence River. It used be an important transit port during the New French era to transport indigenous goods such as fur and lumber to France and import necessities from France for colonial usage. In the British regime, shipbuilding developed quite significantly. In the 20th century, the trading and shipbuilding lessened and gave up to cruise activities.
Old Port today is a lovely area, full of antique stores, old alleyways, beautiful galleries and welcoming cafes and bistros. Not only shopping, but tourists can also walk by the docks or visit the old port market in downtown Quebec, or Marche du Vieux-Port de Québec in French, to buy a variety of gourmet goods freshly made by local farmer.
Follow the arrow and move the mouse in a circular motion to discover the antiques sold by the New France Antiques shop in Rue Saint-Paul
Follow the arrow and move the mouse in a circular motion to explore alleys in the Old Port area
Musée de la Civilisation exterior
The museum was opened on 19 December 1988. This institution offers permanent, temporary and virtual exhibitions with topic related to humanities. Children are important target customers as the museum designs a separate Discovery Zone to satisfy their curiosity about the myriad facets of society and the human experience.
Museum boutique
Gare du Palais is a train and bus station which was built in 1915 by Canadian Pacific Railway company. It was designed similar to Château Frontenac. It was designated a Heritage Railway Station in 1992.
The station did not have any passenger rail service from 1976 to 1985. After its reopen in 1985, it is the eastern terminus of Via Rail’s Corridor services in Ontario and Quebec, serving regular daily services west to Montreal’s Central Station and Ottawa via Drummondville with a total of 12 trains every day
Used to be the venue for two breweries and 2 palaces, Îlot des Palais is one of the richest archaeological sites in Quebec City
In 1668, intendant Jean Talon of New France constructed a stone building here to be used as a brewery with planned production capacity went up to 4000 barrels of beer per year. However, the factory soon stop production.
In 1683, intendant Meulles decided to expand the building to 3 floors and 67 meters long and make it his residence and administrative of the New French. This building was totally damaged in a fire in 1713. The intendant at that time, Bégon, constructed a new stone building in front of the old palace. It was completed in 1719 but destroyed 6 years later. It was then rebuilt again and unfortunately burned out in 1775 when the American troops attacked Quebec
In 1852, Joseph Knight Boswell set up a new brewery there using old palace’s vaults to store beer barrels and some new buildings in the area. The factory ceased its production in 1968.
Today, Îlot des Palais is the archaeological site. Tourists love to come here to admire many artifacts with ages dated back from the time Native American traded fur with the French colony
Tourist Guide
Virtual Video Tour
Upper Town
Lower Town
Parliament Hill & Plains of Abraham
Inside Quebec City’s Wall
Place Royale
Quartier Petit Champlain
