The Battlefields Park (french: Parc des Champs-de-Bataille) includes the

Plains of Abraham The Plains of Abraham (french: Plaines d'Abraham) is a historic area within the Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, anada. It was established on 17 March 1908. The land is the site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which took plac ...

with the nearby and smaller Des Braves park, both within the district of Montcalm in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

, and forms one of the few

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

national urban

parks A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. ...

. Its significance lies in the

Battle of the Plains of Abraham The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec (french: Bataille des Plaines d'Abraham, Première bataille de Québec), was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War (referred to as the French and Indian War to describe ...

(1759) and the Battle of Sainte-Foy, fought six months later on today's Des Braves park. It was established as a park by law on March 17, 1908, it features an interpretive centre and walking trails, and is sometimes used for outdoor concerts, especially during the national festival events. The park contains a collection of about 50 historical

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during si ...

pieces scattered about its grounds. It is managed by the National Battlefields Commission, a federal government agency under the Minister of Canadian Heritage with members appointed by the Queen in her

, Ontarian, and Québécois Councils. The commission also oversees its own police service since 1948.

Martello towers

Built by the British to prevent the Americans from drawing close enough to lay siege to the walls of Quebec, the four

Martello towers Martello towers, sometimes known simply as Martellos, are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts. They stand up ...

were begun by James Craig in 1808 and completed in 1812. The towers were arranged to provide for each other's defence, being situated along an axis that bisects the

from the northwest to the southeast in order to screen the western approach to

, and were numbered rather than named. Tower No. 3 was demolished in the 1900s but the other three remain. The limited openings on the tower were designed to prevent the enemy from taking it by storm, while the tower's rounded shape (to deflect projectiles) and thick masonry walls made it nearly impervious to artillery fire. The doors to the tower are at a height of twice the height of a man - about - and could only be reached by a removable ladder. The towers were never tested in battle, and became obsolete in the 1860s with the development of

rifled In firearms, rifling is machining helical grooves into the internal (bore) surface of a gun's barrel for the purpose of exerting torque and thus imparting a spin to a projectile around its longitudinal axis during shooting to stabilize the ...

artillery, which was powerful enough to breach their walls. Using the theme of

military engineering Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...

Martello Tower No. 1 is open for visitors to view its three floors during the summer months. The Martellos were originally fitted with removable roofs in the fall to keep snow from accumulating on the gun platform at the top and removed in the spring. The roofs were later replaced with newer permanent ones which look almost the same. The three towers were designated a national historic site in 1990, and also form part of the Fortifications of Quebec National Historic Site. One of the three towers is located within the city streets away from the park.

References

External links

The National Battlefields CommissionVirtual museum of the Battlefields ParkMartello Tower 1 exhibits
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battlefields Park, The French and Indian War forts Parks in Quebec City