Louisbourg

We spent the day visiting the Louisbourg fortress. We learned that it was not a fort (military only), but a fortress because it was a fortified town. The French built it in the mid 1700s to protect the hugely profitable salt cod industry. There were some complicated historical treaties that traded the fortress back and forth between the French and the British, with the British finally winning the fort and destroying the surrounding fort walls. The flying debris along with the vibrations severely damaged many of the homes and the town eventually died away with time slowly turning the town to rubble.

The Canadian government has over 1,000,000 documents from the time regarding the homes, the fortifications, and facts about daily life that were obtained from Quebec and France - apparently the French Empire was a huge bureaucracy requiring tons of paperwork that served them well when reconstruction began. The size and number of the reconstructed buildings are huge - all done exactly to the original specifications - many of them on original foundations. Costumed interpreters are in every building and throughout the town. They stay in character and explain about daily life from the points of views of soldiers, officers, traders, sailors, inkeepers, fishermen, children, gardeners, servants, wives, blacksmiths, etc.

We spent more than five hours here learning the history and exploring the buildings. Now we understand why this is Canada's Park System's Crown Jewel. This weekend more than 1,000 re-enactors will be here to camp out and be part of a major celebration regarding the second seige when the fortress fell to the British for the last time.

Lots more photos at the Shutterfly website listed at the right.