Promontory Of Quebec
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Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...
, the term promontory of Quebec refers to the area on which is built the upper part of the borough of
La Cité-Limoilou La Cité-Limoilou () is the central borough of Quebec City, the oldest (in terms of architecture), and the most populous, comprising 19.73% of the city's total population. As an administrative division, it is very new, having only been formed ...
, including Old Quebec (where the promontory is referred to as Cap Diamant). This area covers the eastern half of a larger
plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...
attested in French as ''colline'' or even ''plate-forme de Québec'' (Quebec hill). The western portion of this plateau is occupied by upper Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge (ie. most of this borough — whereas for La Cité-Limoilou, less than half of it is located uptown).


History

Although the southern slope is very steep, it was climbed by British soldiers at nighttime in September 1759, so they could take the French by surprise (who were probably expecting Wolfe's troops to arrive through a more convenient path) and engage in the decisive
Battle of the Plains of Abraham The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec (), was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War (referred to as the French and Indian War to describe the North American theatre). The battle, which took place on 13 Sept ...
. Its escarpments were historically a challenge for the authorities because of the risk of
rockfall A rockfall or rock-fallWhittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984. . is a quantity of Rock (geology), rock that has fallen freely from a cliff face. The term is also used for collapse of rock from roof or wa ...
and the ways of travelling between upper and lower town. Nowadays, roads, a free escalator (named ''du Faubourg''), the Old Quebec Funicular, and 20 stairs with an official
toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...
connect downtown with its upper counterpart. All of the stairs are within the borough of La Cité-Limoilou. The longest, ''escalier du Cap-Blanc'' (398 steps), was designed in wood by noted architect Charles Baillairgé in 1868 (although renovated many times since then) and is the only one that truly goes to the top of the hill, to the south of the
Plains of Abraham The Plains of Abraham () is a historic area within the Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was established on 17 March 1908. The land is the site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which took place on 13 September 1759, ...
. On the northern flank of the promontory, where a majority of stairs are found, the highest portion is not steep enough to warrant their need up there. Hence, the second longest is the ''Franciscains'', with 177 steps going up to the neighborhood of Montcalm ( ''fr''). The shortest real public stair is the ''Quai-du-Roi'' in the Petit Champlain quarter, which has 30 (anti-slip) steps. 53 rockfalls, causing 88 fatalities, 70 injuries and the destruction of 20 houses, have been recorded since 1775. Two events were notable: the rockslide of 1841 (32 deaths) and the rockslide of 1889 (35 deaths), and both seem to have been caused by faulty infrastructure. In 1889, a drain from the
moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...
of the Quebec Citadelle became clogged. The water leaked through a small fracture in the rock but the pressure became too high which led to an implosion in the stone. Mitigation measures such as net fences were however implemented during the 20th century, which drastically reduced the number of incidents.


Geography of the Quebec hill

The plateau, which includes the promontory of Quebec, is long, and has its maximum width in the west () while the historical and eastern extremity averages . The highest point is located at the centre-west of the hill, in the former city of Sainte-Foy (). Overall, it is bounded to the northeast by the Saint-Charles River and to the south by the
Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...
. In the vicinity of the
Plains of Abraham The Plains of Abraham () is a historic area within the Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was established on 17 March 1908. The land is the site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which took place on 13 September 1759, ...
, just west of Cap Diamant () of altitude), the slopes are notable for containing white-cedars growing directly on the rock. This area is called "Cap-Blanc" ( ''fr'') (White Cape), which is possibly a translation of a descriptive
Innu The Innu/Ilnu ('man, person'), formerly called Montagnais (French for ' mountain people'; ), are the Indigenous Canadians who inhabit northeastern Labrador in present-day Newfoundland and Labrador and some portions of Quebec. They refer to ...
toponym. Before the 20th century, there were less trees on this
cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...
, as rockfalls were more frequent, so the greyish colour of the rock was more apparent. Its neutral tint also contrasted with the reddish minerals covering the slopes of the southwestern extremity of the hill, in the locality already named Cap-Rouge (Red Cape). Geologically, the Quebec hill is a
nappe In geology, a nappe or thrust sheet is a large sheetlike body of rock that has been moved more than or above a thrust fault from its original position. Nappes form in compressional tectonic settings like continental collision zones or on the ...
of the
Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...
as well as its only intrusion on the north side of the Saint Lawrence River. On the northern side of the plateau, runs the Logan's Fault ( ''fr''), a prominent area of inactive
thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. I ...
ing first documented by William Logan, and marking the boundary between the geologic provinces of the Appalachian and of the Saint Lawrence Lowlands. The western side of the plateau is mostly made of
sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
and
mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from ''shale'' by its lack of fissility.Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology.'' New York, New York, ...
, while towards Old Quebec the eastern half rests on stony
schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...
. In the early days of the colony, these schist stones were used as
building material Building material is material used for construction. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rocks, sand, wood, and even twigs and leaves, have been used to construct buildings and other structures, like bridges. Apart from natur ...
but this eventually stopped as they were considered to be of poor quality. Sandstone from the hill at Sillery was then used, but also
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
from
quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safet ...
in nearby Beauport,
Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré () is a town in La Côte-de-Beaupré Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada, along the Saint Lawrence River, north-east of Quebec City. The population was 2,803 according to the Canada 2006 Census. Major religious ...
and Saint-Marc-des-Carrières. Beneath the plateau, the substrate is mostly made of
sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...
and
pebble A pebble is a clastic rocks, clast of rock (geology), rock with a grain size, particle size of based on the Particle size (grain size), Udden-Wentworth scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered larger than Granule (geology), gra ...
s originating from the retreat of the post-glacial
Champlain Sea The Champlain Sea () was a prehistoric inlet of the Atlantic Ocean into the North American continent, created by the retreating ice sheets during the closure of the last glacial period. The inlet once included lands in what are now the Canadi ...
.


Gallery

Escalier des Glacis 18.jpg, A rockfall net behind ''des Glacis'' stairs. WPQc-226 Boulevard Laurentien (A73) - Sud.JPG, Southward view from Autoroute 73. Escalier du Faubourg - 01.jpg, ''du Faubourg'' elevator and stairs. Autoroute Charest.jpg, Autoroute 440 runs along the northern flank of the hill.


References

{{reflist Landforms of Quebec City