Market Place and Cathedral, Quebec, 1832, R. A. Sproule, C. G. Grechen, chromo.
The area where farmers from the countryside vended their produce in Quebec lay in front of the Catholic cathedral consecrated by Bishop Laval in 1666, and restored after the siege of 1759. The tower of the Anglican cathedral of 1804 appears in the background, and both still stand today. This was the chief market focus of the Upper Town - one can see two porters carrying goods - and it also provided more spacious, pleasant shopping than the rowdy, close quarters of the Lower Town. Note, also, the British soldier who then played a role no less significant than the clergy in the life of this imperial fortress city.
Courtesy: John Ross Robertson Collection, Metropolitan Toronto Library Board
