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Perched atop cap Diamant, surveying the St. Lawrence River, Québec City is one of the landmarks of North American history.

Samuel de Champlain saw the potential of this natural citadel, and founded a fur-trading post here in 1608.  As religious institutions and government buildings sprang up within the fortifications of the Upper Town, merchants and craftsmen settled in the Lower Town alongside the River. Québec City was a valuable prize sought after many times in the wars of the 17th and 18th centuries.  When it finally fell to the English in 1759, New France became a British colony.

Québec City, the cradle of French civilization in North America, is today a busy seaport, an important centre of services and research, a cultural hot spot and, of course, the provincial capital.  The remarkable parliament buildings (Hôtel du Parlement) are well worth a visit.

An Historic Treasure The old quarter of Québec City was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1985. This is the only fortified city in North America, and from the top of its ramparts you can admire the maze of narrow, winding streets and sloping roofs.  Near the St. John gate, one of four in the fortifications, Artillery Park features an impressive redoubt dating from the French regime, along with other buildings.

Inside the venerable old walls, visitors will find several fascinating museums, including the Musée de l'Amérique française, tucked away within the centuries-old walls of the Seminary, and two others telling the stories of the Ursuline and Augustine nuns.

The Notre-Dame-de-Québec Basilica, with its rich art collection, features a superb sound and light show.

Take Québec's one-of-a-kind funicular to Lower Town's Place-Royale, dating back to the earliest days of the colony. Despite their advanced age, this whole area and the adjacent Petit-Champlain quarter are very much alive and well, thank you, with an interpretation centre, art and craft boutiques, and many restaurants and bistros.  Just next door, the Musée de la civilisation p resents thematic exhibitions with a contemporary interactive approach.  And while you're in the Old Port, why not hop aboard a cruise boat for a refreshingly different view of the city from a new vantage point?

If you decide instead to climb back up toward the Citadel dominating the city, you'll pass by the immortal Château Frontenac, with its medieval-looking gables and turrets.  From there you will probably want to stroll the boardwalk of Terrasse Dufferin, with an incomparable view of the St. Lawrence.  Keep walking and you'll come to the Plains of Abraham, also known as Battlefields Park.  This vast green space wasn't always so peaceful: in fact, in 1759 it was the site of a clash between the French and British armies that marked a turning point in the history of North America.  Here you will find the Musée du Québec, housing an important collection of Québec art and sometimes playing host to major international exhibitions.

For a change of scene, you can visit the Aquarium, close to the remarkable Québec Bridge, and the zoo, in Charlesbourg, two favourite spots with visitors both young and old.

Celebrations Year-Round Throughout their long history, people here have always recognized the importance of living well and having fun, whatever the season.  July is the time for Québec City's international summer festival, as its streets, parks and concert halls overflow with music, theatre and song.  Seven months later, in February, the city explodes again with Carnaval, the biggest winter celebration of its kind in the world.

Exploring Nearby Venture outside the city and you'll be delighted at all the sights and activities nearby.  Take the historic Chemin du Roy west to Portneuf or Avenue Royale east to join up with Côte-de-Beaupré. Marvel at the impressive waterfall at Parc de la Chute-Montmorency, higher than Niagara Falls.  You can admire the view from a cable car, suspended bridge or lookout.

Next on your itinerary is Île d'Orléans, a peaceful rural oasis whose charms feature in the songs of Québec folksinger Félix Leclerc.  A bit farther along lies the Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Basilica, which welcomes over 1.5 million pilgrims and visitors every year.  From there you can easily reach two inviting natural sites: the Station Mont-Sainte-Anne, renowned for its world-class skiing and variety of outdoor activities, and the Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area, visited by hundreds of thousands of snow geese in migration season.

For another unforgettable day trip, take the ferry to Lévis, for a new perspective on Québec City.  While you're on the south shore, don't miss the Chutes de la Chaudière, a spectacular 120-m (394-ft) wide waterfall.

North of Québec City you can take in the Huron village of Wendake, or push on just a bit farther to Stoneham, Parc de la Jacques-Cartier or the Réserve faunique des Laurentides, another wildlife reserve, both of which offer plenty to see and do in the great outdoors.

For a change of scene, visit Village Vacances Valcartier, a huge water park in summer and popular centre for recreational activities in the winter.  It's a favourite spot for the young and the young at heart!

History Québec's first inhabitants were Indians and Inuit who migrated from Asia thousands of years ago, before the continents drifted apart. The first Europeans to visit the shores of Québec's fertile St. Lawrence Gulf were Basque whalers and cod fishermen. Commissioned by François I, the King of France, Jacques Cartier landed in the Gaspé in 1534.  After Cartier claimed possession of this immense territory for France, the European presence in New France began to grow.

In 1608, Samuel de Champlain anchored on the north shore of the St. Lawrence in a place the Indians called Kébec.  He founded a trading post on the Place Royale, in what was to become Québec City. Soon after, French coureurs de bois arrived, eager to trade in precious furs.

Colonization In 1642 Paul Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, landed with a group of French colonists at what is now Pointe-à-Callière in Old Montréal.  There he founded a small Catholic mission named Ville Marie. From 1660 to 1713 the settlement of New France accelerated as France established colonies in Acadia (now Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) and along the shores of the St. Lawrence.  By the late 18th century, Ville Marie had grown from a trading post into the thriving port of Montréal.

During the French and English War, the armies of British Major General James Wolfe attacked Québec City on September 13, 1759 and defeated the French troops of Commander Louis Joseph de Montcalm.  This Battle of the Plains of Abraham, in which both generals lost their lives, altered the destiny of New France.  Four years later, under the Treaty of Paris, the King of France granted to "His Royal Majesty, the sole ownership of Canada and all its dependencies."  This transfer of power and territory from France to England sparked a flood of new colonists from England, Ireland and Scotland.

The Canadian Constitution Act of 1791 established two provinces: Upper Canada (primarily English-speaking Ontario), and Lower Canada (primarily French-speaking Québec) with Québec City as its capital.  The British army crushed the Québec Patriot Rebellion of 1837-1838 and in 1841, the Act of Union united Upper and Lower Canada. In 1867, the signing of the British North America Act established the Confederation of Canadian Provinces including Québec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Québec's earliest commerce was based on fur trading.  Until the early 20th century, the economic life of Quebecers centered around agriculture and forestry.  As the industrial revolution sparked the rise of manufacturing in the cities, rural Quebecers left the farms to work in the cities, and the process of urbanization accelerated.  By 1830, Montréal - the "Paris of the North"- had become Canada's major industrial center, welcoming waves of European immigrants fleeing war and misery in their homelands.

In 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway opened Montréal up to the world, and in 1967, the world came to Montréal.  The Expo 67 World's Fair highlighted the culmination of Québec's "Quiet Revolution," a period marked by a resurgence of pride in Québec's French cultural heritage, a lessening of the influence of the Catholic Church and a determination to assert Québec's place among modern nations of the world.

In the 1970's, debates over the supremacy of the French language crystalized around the province.  In 1976, the Parti Québécois was voted into power, led by charismatic René Lévesque.  In 1980, in a popular referendum, Québec voters rejected the proposition of sovereignty-association with the federal government of Canada. In October, 1995 a second referendum on Québec independence was also defeated by a narrow margin.