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Newfoundland Adventure 2025-Fortress of LouisbourgNewfoundland Adventure 2025-Fortress of Louisbourg My trip to Newfoundland started on June 9. The plan was to drive to Sydney, Nova Scotia and then take a trip south to the Fortress of Louisbourg prior to departure on the 11:15PM ferry to Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland. This 7 hour crossing allows for a comfortable sleep in an onboard cabin and a early start. To my surprise the Fortress of Louisbourg closes at 5PM and my 4PM arrival only allowed time for a quick one hour circuit of the highlights. I won't parrot the writings of others on this fortress but it is worth noting that this is the largest reconstruction project in North America and a remarkable feat well worth all the praise heaped upon Parks Canada for this effort. Courtesy of Wikipedia
The Fortress of Louisbourg (French: Forteresse de Louisbourg) is a tourist attraction as a National Historic Site and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th-century French fortress at Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Its two sieges, especially that of 1758, were turning points in the Anglo-French struggle for what today is Canada.[1] The original settlement was founded in 1713 by settlers from Terre-Neuve, and initially called Havre à l'Anglois. Subsequently, the fishing port grew to become a major commercial port and a strongly defended fortress. The fortifications eventually surrounded the town. The walls were constructed mainly between 1720 and 1740. By the mid-1740s Louisbourg, named for Louis XIV of France, was one of the most extensive (and expensive) European fortifications constructed in North America.[2] The site was supported by two smaller garrisons on Île Royale located at present-day St. Peter's and Englishtown. The Fortress of Louisbourg suffered key weaknesses, since it was erected on low-lying ground commanded by nearby hills and its design was directed mainly toward sea-based assaults, leaving the land-facing defences relatively weak. A third weakness was that it was a long way from France or Quebec, from which reinforcements might be sent. It was captured by British colonists in 1745, and was a major bargaining chip in the negotiations leading to the 1748 treaty ending the War of the Austrian Succession. It was returned to the French in exchange for border towns in what is today Belgium. It was captured again in 1758 by British forces in the Seven Years' War, after which its fortifications were systematically destroyed by British engineers.[2] The British continued to have a garrison at Louisbourg until 1768 but had abandoned the site by 1785.[3] The fortress and town were partially reconstructed, in a project that started in 1961 and continued into the 1970s.[3] The head stonemason for this project was Ron Bovaird. This reconstruction work provided jobs for unemployed coal miners, but relied on expropriating an entire community known as West Louisbourg.[4] Additional restoration was completed in 2018–2020 and again in 2022–2023 after Hurricane Fiona.[5] The earlier of the two projects was intended to protect the site from rising water and to restore parts of the fortress.[6] The Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic site is operated by Parks Canada as a living history museum. The site stands as the largest reconstruction project in North America.[7] The Chapel
Keywords:
Canada,
Fortress of Louisbourg,
National Historic Sites of Canada,
Newfoundand,
Nova Scotia,
Parks Canada
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