Citadelle of Quebec

per person

The wonderfuil Citadelle of Quebec is an active military installation and the secondary official residence of both the Canadian monarch and the governor general of Canada.

Located atop Cap Diamant for close to two centuries, adjoining the Plains of Abraham, the Québec Citadel has built by the British army to ward off an attack that ultimately never came, the fortress is typical of 17th century French fortifications and is known as the Gibraltar of the Americas.

The Citadel is the biggest of its kind in North America. Since 1831 it has stood atop Cape Diamond as a refuge of last resort for Québec City’s garrison, lest the city ever be taken by enemy forces. Its location and sheer size earned it the nickname “The Gibraltar of the Americas.”

The fort is made up of a star-shaped stone wall with four bastions. It surrounds a handful of buildings (barracks, hangars, armoury, powder magazine) designed to provide self-sufficiency in the event of a siege,. A hospital was even added in 1840. Two of its buildings date to the French regime: the Cap-aux-Diamants Redoubt, built in 1693, and the powder magazine, built in 1750.

Today the Citadel is a working military base and home to the Royal 22nd Regiment, the only French-speaking regiment in the Canadian army.