What does the Fortified Wall look like?

Imagine having a time machine at your disposal.

Having a "special" time machine that you can use to witness more than four centuries of evolution and the growth of the Fortified Wall that completely surrounds the Upper Town of Old Québec, in Québec City, one of the most unique structures in North America!

Well, here it comes... because we will provide such a special time machine for you.

On the U-Haul SuperGraphic for the Province of Québec, right behind the horse-drawn carriage, you have already seen an intriguing European-looking structure. It is actually a North American structure called "The St. Louis Gate" (or "La porte Saint-Louis" in French) and a section of Old Québec's Fortified Wall, in Québec City.

Québec City is located along the St. Lawrence River, in a place "where the river narrows". It is considered to be the most European city in North America and its population speaks French, which is the official language for the whole Province of Québec, in the eastern part of Canada.

© 2010 U-Haul International, Inc.

Québec City is located in the northeastern part of North America, along the St. Lawrence River "where the river narrows". It is the capital of the Province of Québec, in the eastern part of Canada.

Québec City is more than 400 years old, having celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2008, long after it was founded by Samuel de Champlain, in 1608.

The oldest part of Québec City is called "Old Québec". It is divided into an Upper Town (on top of monumental cliffs) and a Lower Town (at the bottom of those same prodigious cliffs). Those high cliffs range in height from 164 to 328 feet (50 to 100 meters).

© 1999 Éditions Phidal, Inc.

This photo shows you an aerial view of Québec City with the St. Lawrence River at its feet. It also shows you that Old Québec's Fortified Wall and the high cliffs upon which it is perched on three of its four sides still delineate the urban geography of that most European city. The modern skyscrapers you see in the top part of this aerial photo are mostly located behind the west side of the Fortified Wall, which overall surrounds the Upper Town of Old Québec.

The Upper Town of Old Québec is surrounded by a Fortified Wall that is unique in North America and St. Louis Gate is a crucial section of that Fortified Wall.

Québec City is the only city in North America that has preserved and maintained its Fortified Wall in its entirety.

© 2010 U-Haul International, Inc.

This photo taken by satellite shows you Old Québec’s Upper Town (for the main part of the photo), with Old Québec’s Lower Town and the St. Lawrence River at its feet (at the bottom of the photo). It also allows you to see clearly Old Québec's Fortified Wall (represented by a thick red line) surrounding that Upper Town. The gaps you see in the thick red line representing the Fortified Wall are either gates that can be considered like sections of that Fortified Wall or modern openings to let streets through.

We are now ready to look more closely at the different sections of Old Québec's Fortified Wall, the way they look in the 21st Century:

• St. Louis Gate (represented on our SuperGraphic);
• Four other gates, still existing today;
• The walls of the Fortified Wall and their three main bastions;
• The star-shaped Citadel, a formidable last-resort stronghold;
• The majestic Château Frontenac with its spectacular Dufferin Terrace.