Quintessential Québec City: The City’s “5th Avenue” and “Latin Quarter”

Québec City will always stand-out from amongst the other big cities in Canada. Its charming quaintness emanates from a blend of North American and European cultures that is not intrinsically and purely North American, but not comprehensively European either. Rather, it has a unique characteristic that embraces the combined heritage of all the peoples that have lived in that land while never losing touch with its French connections. The result is a seamless amalgamation of various elements of culture that gives it its very own distinct identity.

It is not unusual to hear first time visitors say that being in the city is like being in Europe, but after at least half a day, they’d realize that they are very much still in North America. It happened to me.

The first time I set foot in Québec City on a cruise many years back, I felt transported to another continent as our ship docked at the Saint-Lawrence River and I got a glimpse of the old stone houses in the distance. It was nothing like Vancouver or Toronto…and even its sister city, Montréal.

The architecture, the language, the vibe, the air of antiquity, particularly in the Old Town, all scream, “I am ancient and I have a long, colourful story to tell…” Yet, after my encounter with the locals, I knew I was still home. This is still Canada…but the wonderfully whimsical part of Canada. And I never get tired of exploring it every time I go back.

Our 2017 visit to Québec City was the longest one, out of our other trips. That time, we stayed for five days to watch the parade and enjoy the festivities of Les Fêtes de la Nouvelle-France (The New France Festival). We spent a lot of time wandering around and getting to know its neighbourhoods a little better.

In 2018, we went back to accompany our son when he participated in a national chess tournament. We stayed for four days. In between matches and after the last match of each day, we’d go for walks and sightseeing.

This series will be about the neighbourhoods that we explored.

Québec City has its own version of New York City's "5th Avenue" and Paris' "Latin Quarter."

Côte de la Fabrique

If you keep walking along Rue Saint-Jean, you will hit Côte de la Fabrique that will lead you to the City Hall, and eventually, to the cathedral. Côte de la Fabrique is one of the oldest streets in the city and was named after the assembly of laypersons tasked with managing the parish church’s material possessions called fabrique paroissiale in French.

In the 19^th century, it became a place of trade since the square facing the church became a public market. Like Rue Saint-Jean, it was a shopping street, but it mainly housed high-end shops such as those of hatters, furriers, fabric merchants, and tailors that catered mainly to the English-speaking bourgeoisie. Starting in 1878 they could also hop aboard a horse-drawn tramway linking Rue Saint-Jean to Côte de la Fabrique. I guess we can say this was the equivalent of today’s 5^th Avenue in New York, Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Via Montenapoleone in Milan, or Avenue Montaigne in Paris.

But aside from the Anglophone middle class, this street also became home to the literati. With the establishment of the Librairie Crémazie in 1847 which eventually became the meeting place for Francophone literature lovers, the area drew a lot of novelists, poets, and historians, especially when the founder’s brother, poet Octave Crémazie took leadership. However, after falling into debt, the Crémazies sought exile in France, and the library was turned over to another owner, It became the city’s preeminent bookstore until it moved to a bigger location on Rue De Buade in the early 20^th century.

Likewise, it became known for entertainment, for it was where the locals flocked to watch movies at the Empire Theatre which opened its doors to the public in 1936. The building has since been purchased by clothing store giant La Maison Simons to extend its store next door, but they preserved the Art Deco façade of the old theatre. Today, you can still see the sign, “Empire” on top of the building.

In front of the City Hall, you will not miss the tall building. At 18 storeys, L’Édifice Price was the city’s highest building in its time. Built in 1929 in the popular Art Deco style by Price Brothers Limited to be their new headquarters, it has geometric motifs and a steepled copper roof.

But what made it famous (or infamous) was the controversy that surrounded it when it was constructed. It was perceived as out-of-proportion in a mixed residential and commercial area where very few buildings exceeded five floors. And apparently, because of its height, it inadvertently provided a bird’s-eye view into the adjacent Ursuline Convent. To appease the nuns, they were asked to pay a “view tax.” (I wonder what sort of view could be seen from the top of the tower and I wonder how much the nuns charged.)

The Price Brothers went bankrupt during the Depression years and eventually lost control of this building. In 1983, it was acquired by the city of Québec and in 2001, its 16^th and 17^th floors even served as the official residence of the Premier of Québec.

Côte de la Fabrique, at present, is still lined with stores, but it’s not the high-end district as it used to be. However, it continues its entertainment legacy by hosting street performers that attract crowds at the small park between the City Hall and the cathedral. We once watched a group of contortionists here who did daring stunts to the amazement of our then five-year old boy. In the summer, they also hold concerts here.

Rue Couillard

Branching out of Côte de la Fabrique is Rue Couillard. We stumbled upon it when we were checking out the menus outside the Italian restaurant, Portofino and the Irish Pub, Pub Saint-Patrick. 

This narrow street is the oldest residential neighbourhood in the Upper Town that was first inhabited by artisans until intellectuals from the nearby Université Laval and Séminaire de Québec moved into some of the artisans’ homes, making it into a kind of artistic and intellectual centre.

Lawyers, notaries, doctors, and other professionals who taught at the university, also moved here and built fine homes for themselves. And because Latin was widely spoken by the academic population, the area became known as the Latin Quarter and this street became the main thoroughfare. It was reminiscent of the Latin Quarter in Paris, close to the famous Sorbonne University.

The street boasts of one the oldest houses in Québec City. House No. 17 was built for the locksmith André Bouchard in 1728. Another notable house is No. 22, home of musician Calixa Lavallée when he composed a patriotic song for the national convention of Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Québec City that year. The song, O Canada, officially became Canada’s national anthem in 1980.

The Latin Quarter lost its groove in the 1950s when Université Laval built a bigger and more modern campus outside the city to meet its growing needs. But in the late 1980s, the ambiance of old returned to the neighbourhood streets when the university’s School of Architecture returned to some of the seminary’s oldest rooms, along with hundreds of students and their professors. 

Today, aside from historic houses, this street keeps some hidden gems:  Chez Temporel, an artsy coffee shop that serves light meals, and Epicerie de la Rue Couillard, a quaint gourmet grocery store, where you can grab a fresh sandwich or pastry and stock up on local cheeses, gourmet products, and an impressive selection of Québec micro-brewery beers. Here, you will also find the Musée Bon Pasteur, a museum dedicated to the history of the Good Shepherd nuns. There is also an underground art gallery and some of the cheapest hostels in the area.