Trois-Rivières

Founded in 1634, Trois-Rivières is the second oldest permanent French settlement in North America after Quebec City. The name comes from the three channels the Saint-Maurice makes at its mouth, not from three rivers. The Forges du Saint-Maurice, established in 1730, were the first ironworks in Canada and ran for a hundred and fifty years making stoves, cannon and cast iron; the site is preserved with the blast furnace foundations and the master's house. A fire destroyed much of the old town in 1908, so the surviving colonial fabric is patchy, but the Ursuline monastery and several stone houses came through it.

History

The Algonquin and Abenaki used the site as a summer stopping place, and Jacques Cartier described it in 1535; the name was given in 1599 by Captain Dupont-Gravé after the three channels of the Saint-Maurice at its mouth, and Samuel de Champlain recommended a settlement here in 1603. The village was formed on 4 July 1634 by its first governor, Sieur de Laviolette, the second permanent settlement in New France, it became the seat of a regional government in 1665, the Ursulines arrived in 1697 and founded the first school, and in 1730 the first ironworks opened on the Saint-Maurice (Wikipedia, Trois-Rivières).

What to look for

• Les Forges du Saint-Maurice - Canada's first ironworks, run for 150 years.
• The Ursuline monastery - a surviving colonial religious complex.
• The riverfront - the St. Lawrence and the Saint-Maurice mouth.
• The poetry inscriptions - lines of verse set into the old town pavements.

When to go

May to October; the Forges site closes for winter. A large poetry festival runs in October and an international vintage car grand prix in August. The old town is walkable year-round.

Before you go

The 1908 fire destroyed much of the colonial town, so the historic core is smaller than the founding date suggests. The Forges are foundations and interpretation rather than standing works.

Nearby

La Mauricie lies north; Quebec City is northeast.

Key facts