Sanuel de Champlain honoured
Celebrating the birth of a city is very much a celebration of its founders. In Quebec's case, the celebration of its 400th anniversary focuses a lot on its founder Samuel de Champlain a French cartographer and explorer who became governor of the New France. His actions on and around the Saint Lawrence River are significant.
Yet no one knows really what Champlain looked like and so an emphasis is put on his deeds as a mean for people of the 21 century can get to know the man whose initiative went far beyond his professional occupations to the making of Quebec the center of a powerful colony.
Many activities are offered during the spring and summer to allow visitors and residents alike to travel back in time and discover traces of Champlain's accomplishments.
•1- Park Canada' teams who have been doing archaeological investigations under the Duffrin Terrace by the Chateau Frontenac have organised visits of this site were was built Saint-Louis fort and Chateau who served for 200 years as the official residence and the seat of power for French and British governors. It burned in 1834 and was central to the political, social and cultural life of the city.
•2- A fascinating encounter with Samuel de Champlain is proposed by the Musée de la Civilisation as you visit Québec of the 1635 through a scaled model and get to know Champlain and his time thanks to d film technology, travel narratives, maps and drawings.
•3- Quebec's Citadel, the residence of the Governor General of Canada will be the exhibition place of an unusual object. A 2.2 meters high and 1.5meters wide book: Le grand Livre de Champlain presented by the French cities of La Rochelle, Royan and Rochefort. All the pages are written and drawn by hand based on Samuel de Champlain's notebooks
Of course, tribute is also paid to other figures that have left their imprint on the city's history. We will tell you about these soon.