Parliament Building (Quebec)
Parliament Building (Quebec) | |
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Parliament Building, in Quebec City | |
General information | |
Architectural style | Second Empire |
Address |
1045, rue des Parlementaires Quebec City, Quebec G1A 1A3 |
Town or city | Quebec City, Quebec |
Country | Canada |
Construction started | 1877 |
Completed | 1886 |
Client | Crown in Right of Quebec |
Owner | Crown in Right of Quebec |
Technical details | |
Size | 52 metres or 171 feet in height. |
Design and construction | |
Architect | Eugène-Étienne Taché |
The Parliament Building (French: Hôtel du Parlement) is an eight-floor building in Quebec City and home to the Parliament of Quebec, composed of the Lieutenant-Governor and the National Assembly. The building was designed by architect Eugène-Étienne Taché and was built from 1877 to 1886. With the frontal tower, the building stands at 52 metres or 171 feet in height. The building is located in Place de l'Assemblée nationale, atop Parliament Hill in the district of Vieux-Québec–Cap-Blanc–colline Parlementaire, just outside the walls of Old Quebec; this area is part of the borough of La Cité-Limoilou.
Architecture
It features the Second Empire architectural style that was popular for prestigious buildings both in Europe (especially France, where the style originated) and the United States during the latter 19th century. Although somewhat more sober in appearance and lacking a towering central belfry, Quebec City's Parliament Building bears a definite likeness to the Philadelphia City Hall, another Second Empire edifice in North America which was built during the same period. Even though the building's symmetrical layout with a frontal clock tower in the middle is typical of legislative institutions of British heritage, the architectural style is believed to be unique among parliament buildings found in other Canadian provincial capitals. Its facade presents a pantheon representing significant events and people of the history of Quebec.
Additional buildings were added next to the Parliament Buildings:
- Édifice André-Laurendeau was added from 1935 to 1937 to house the Ministry of Transport.
- Édifice Honoré-Mercier was added from 1922 to 1925 to house the Ministries of the Treasury (Finances), the Attorney General, and the Secretary General of the National Assembly.
- Édifice Jean-Antoine-Panet was added from 1931 to 1932 for the Ministry of Agriculture.
- Édifice Pamphile-Le May added from 1910 to 1915 for the Library of the National Assembly, various other government offices and the Executive Council.
Statues
- Robert Baldwin sculpture in front of Parliament Building (Quebec)
- Robert Bourassa sculpture in front of Parliament Building (Quebec)
- Louis-Philippe Hébert's Charles-Michel de Salaberry sculpture in front of Parliament Building (Quebec)
- Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye sculpture in front of Parliament Building (Quebec)
- Maurice Duplessis sculpture in front of Parliament Building (Quebec)
- Louis-Philippe Hébert's Lord Elgin, James Bruce sculpture in front of Parliament Building (Quebec)
- Adelard Godbout sculpture in front of Parliament Building (Quebec)
- Louis-Philippe Hébert's Amerindian Family sculpture in front of Parliament Building (Quebec)
- Louis Jolliet sculpture in front of Parliament Building (Quebec)
- René Lévesque sculpture in front of Parliament Building (Quebec)
- Louis-Philippe Hébert's Francis de Gaston, Chevalier de Levis sculpture in front of Parliament Building (Quebec)
- Jacques Marquette sculpture in front of Parliament Building (Quebec)
- Honoré Mercier sculpture in front of Parliament Building (Quebec)
- Pierre Le Moyne Sieur d'Iberville sculpture in front of Parliament Building (Quebec)
- Louis-Philippe Hébert's James Wolfe and Marquis de Montcalm sculpture in front of Parliament Building (Quebec)
The Quebec National Assembly's facade has 22 statues of major people of the province's history and others on the building's grounds:
- La halte dans la forêt (The Amerindian Family)
- Lord Elgin, James Bruce
- Francois-Gaston, Duc de Lévis
- James Wolfe
- Marquis de Montcalm, Louis Joseph
- Honoré Mercier
- Louis Hippolyte LaFontaine
- Jean de Brébeuf
- Nicolas Viel
- René Lévesque
- Jean Lesage
- Maurice Duplessis
- Poetry and history
- Louis de Buade de Frontenac
- Religion and Country
- Samuel de Champlain
- Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve
- Francois-Xavier de Montmorency Laval
- Marguerite Bourgeoys
- Jean-Jacques Olier
- Charles-Michel de Salaberry
- Robert Baldwin
- Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester
- Pierre Boucher
- Jean Talon
- Pierre Le Moyne Sieur d'Iberville
- Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye
- Jacques Marquette
- Louis Jolliet
- Marie Guyart
See also
- Old Parliament Building (Quebec) 1777-1840, 1850–1854 and 1859–1883
- Bonsecours Market 1849
- Philadelphia City Hall completed 1901 in a similar style
References
- Deschênes, Gaston (2007). The Québec Parliament Building: A Monument to History, Saint-Lambert: Stromboli, 263 p. ISBN 978-2-921800-24-2 [translation, Benjamin Waterhouse]
- Noppen Luc (1996). L'Hôtel du Parlement, témoin de notre histoire, Sainte-Foy : Publications du Québec, 204 p. ISBN 2-551-16328-5
- L'Hotel du Parlement/National Assembly of Quebec
External links
Coordinates: 46°48′32″N 71°12′51″W / 46.808762°N 71.214178°W
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