Fortress of Louisbourg

Louisbourg was France's fortified capital in the Atlantic, built from 1713 and a major cod port; it was besieged and taken twice, in 1745 and 1758, and the British demolished it systematically after the second capture. In the 1960s the Canadian government began rebuilding about a quarter of the town on the original foundations, in part as a make-work project for coal miners displaced by the collapse of the Cape Breton coal industry, retraining them in eighteenth-century masonry and carpentry. Around fifty buildings were reconstructed using archaeological and archival evidence, making it the largest reconstruction project of its kind in North America.

History

The settlement was founded in 1713 by settlers from Terre-Neuve and first called Havre à l'Anglois; France had chosen this ice-free, well-protected harbour after the one at Sainte Anne proved to ice over in winter, and named it after Louis XIV. The fishing port grew into a major commercial port, its walls were built mainly between 1720 and 1740, and by the mid-1740s it was one of the most extensive and expensive European fortifications in North America; taken in 1745, it was returned to France under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, before the second siege of 1758 (Wikipedia, Fortress of Louisbourg).

What's there

• The reconstructed town - about fifty buildings rebuilt on original foundations.
• The miners' craftsmanship - the retrained coal miners who did the work.
• The costumed garrison - soldiers, servants and merchants in first-person roles.
• The period food - eighteenth-century meals served in the taverns.

When to go

June to September for the full staffed programme; the site opens with reduced access in shoulder months and closes in winter. Fog is frequent even in summer.

Things to know

Everything visible is reconstruction rather than original fabric. The site is large and exposed, and Cape Breton fog can settle for the whole visit. Full staffing is summer only.

Nearby

Sydney lies northwest; the Miners' Museum is at Glace Bay.

Key facts