At the west end of this square, which served as a market place and occasionally as the site of public executions, stands the church of Notre Dame des Victoires. On the other three sides were the homes of the wealthier merchants, their spacious vaulted cellars serving as warehouses. Behind the houses on the south side was the quay, with bastions mounting batteries of cannon to command the river. In the centre of the square, until the turn of the seventeenth century, stood a copy of Bernini's famous bust of Louis XIV, mounted on a pedestal. It was brought to Canada by the intendant Jean Bochart de Champigny to let the colonists see what their monarch looked like. At the request of the citizens, who feared it might suffer damage from the market-day traffic, it was moved to a niche over the door of one of the houses. The architecture of these buildings, indeed, of the whole of Quebec, gave it the appearance of a typical town of northern France. In winter, however, after a fresh fall of snow, it has, even today, a beauty all its own. In 1759, during the British siege of Quebec, these buildings were destroyed by a bombardment which set the lower town aflame and destroyed 80 percent of the city.
A massive archaeological project is in progress at Place Royale and many of the buildings have been reconstructed. The pavement over the cobblestones is being removed and the square will once more recall the early days of Quebec. There are a number of fashionable restaurants and boutiques and a museum which explains the restoration of the area.
