Quebec’s Lighthouse Trail lights the way to discovering the province’s maritime history
Followiwng the path of the Lighthouse Trail in the maritime regions of Quebec brings visitors into contact with many reminders of how the sea has shaped the history and culture of the province. One of the more memorable stops along that trail is in Rimouski, where the tragic sinking of the Empress of Ireland took place, a nautical disaster that is often referred to as Canada’s Titanic.
Visitors to this pleasant city in the BasSaint-Laurent can learn about the ship’s sinking at the Empress of Ireland Pavilion, an excellent museum that’s part of the Pointe-auPère Maritime Historic Site. It sits next to the Pointe-au-Père lighthouse, which played a role in the dramatic events of 1914 that saw 1,012 people perish in 14 minutes. Visitors to the museum this year will be treated to a new, interactive and immersive exhibition that brings the tragedy to life.
History is plentiful in the maritime regions of Quebec because long before there were roads, water was the primary source of transportation for the region’s earliest explorers and settlers. One of their first outposts was in Tadoussac, a charming town that sits at the confluence of the Saguenay and St. Lawrence Rivers as the gateway to the CôteNord.
It was here in 1600, that a trading post was built in New France to trade with the area’s Aboriginal Peoples. A chapel was erected by the Jesuits soon after, and while it has long been lost, the most recent chapel to stand on the original site dates back to 1747, making it the world’s oldest religious building made of wood. Visitors can still see this rustic remnant of Quebec’s past. Another place to learn about early contact between aboriginal and Euro-Canadian cultures is the VieuxPoste de Sept-Îles, a fascinating recreation of a fur-trading post that brings the 19th century to life.
It’s more than just history that shapes culture. Shared traditions passed on through generations link us to that history, and one of those shared traditions is a passion for food. People have been growing food along the shores of the St. Lawrence River and in the interior regions of Eastern Quebec, for centuries. Among the favourites are cheesemaking, winemaking, beer brewing, baking and other simple pleasures that may not qualify as haute cuisine.
A big part of that food culture is the bounty harvested from the sea. Freshly-caught fish, lobster and shellfish are staples at virtually every restaurant in this part of the province, but few places are as famous for it as the Îles de la Madeleine. These windswept islands with their red rocks and sandy beaches are a remote outpost in the Gulf of St. Lawrence that live and breathe with the rhythms of the ocean surrounding them.
The fish that were caught in the maritime regions of Quebec were once so plentiful that they fueled a major export industry in cod which were caught here by the ton, dried, salted, and stored in wooden barrels for sale overseas. Much of that activity happened in the Gaspé Peninsula which has several places where visitors can learn about that history, including Forillon National Park, Parc national de l’Île-Bonaventure-etdu-Rocher-Percé, Bancde-Pêche-de-Paspébiac Historic Site and several others.
In Bonaventure, visitors can check out the Musée Acadien du Québec to learn how much of the maritime region of Quebec was populated by Acadians who fled there in the 18th century. Further along the road, travellers can go further back in time to the Parc National de Miguasha to marvel at a captivating collection of 380-million-year-old Devonian fossils.
For those that want to get off the beaten track, the lighthouse trail continues northward along the rugged shores of the CôteNord. Of the 40 lighthouses found in the maritime regions of Quebec, many of the prettiest can be found here. On remote l’île aux Perroquets, in the Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve, lighthouse lovers can actually spend the night on the island and imagine what life was like as a lighthouse keeper.
It’s not the only Quebec lighthouse that offers the opportunity to spend the night. The Pot à l’Eau-de-Vie Lighthouse is now a rustic inn on an isolated island in the St. Lawrence that is accessible by boat from Rivière-du-Loup in the Bas-Saint-Laurent.
The history and culture of the maritime regions of Quebec are rich and varied. There are so many stories that there’s not time enough to teach them all in our schools, but a visit here brings them to life and provides a new appreciation for how they shaped our land and the people who live here.
For more information, visit quebecbythesea.ca/ discoveries.