"A View of the North West Part of the City of Quebec", sketched by Richard Short in 1761.
The site itself is a magnificent one, and no city in North America, north of Mexico, had buildings as imposing as those of Quebec at mid-century. This was mainly because it was the administrative centre for New France and the colony's seaport. Here resided the senior royal officials, the governor-general, the intendant, the bishop and the Conseil SupΘrieur. The large building in the centre with the turret on the roof was the intendant's palace. Above and behind is the caserne ("barracks"), then the longest building on the continent. To the left of it is the hospital, H⌠tel-Dieu, and next to it is the seminary and the bishop's palace. On the cliff edge, far left, is the ChΓteau Saint-Louis, residence of the governor-general. Below, between the steep cliff and the river are the homes and warehouses of the colony's leading merchants. The figures in the foreground are ladies and gentlemen dressed in the European style of the period.
