Showing 1-8 of 8 results
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Centre d'Interpretation de Place-Royale
This interpretive center touts the area as the cradle of French history. The exhibits focus on the individual people, houses and challenges of setting up on the shores of the St Lawrence River. It goes a bit heavy on the random artifact displays (just how many displays of uncaptioned broken cups and saucers does one visitor need to see at a time?) but otherwise there are slick, worthwhile displays.
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Discovery Pavilion
This building houses the main Québec City tourist office, Centre Infotouriste, and the wonderful exhibition Canada Odyssey. In it, you move from theater to theater where the history of the Plains of Abraham are depicted through clever multi-media presentations and generous dollops of good humor.
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Musée de l'Amérique Française
Right on the grounds of the Séminaire de Québec (the Québec Seminary) this excellent museum is purported to be Canada's oldest museum. (The Musée Scientifique du Séminaire de Québec opened here in 1806). Today's museum has brilliantly atmospheric exhibits on life in the seminary during the colonial era as well as religious artifacts and temporary exhibitions on subjects like endangered species.
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Musée de la Civilisation
The Museum of Civilization wows you even before you've visited the exhibitions. It's a fascinating mix of modern design that incorporates pre-existing buildings with contemporary architecture. The permanent exhibits, like one on the cultures of Québec's Aboriginals and one titled People of Québec: Then and Now, are unique and well worth seeing. Many include clever interactive elements.
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Musée des Ursulines
The fascinating story of the Ursuline nuns' lives and influence in the 17th and 18th centuries is told in this thoughtful, well set out museum. The sisters established the first girls' school on the continent in 1641 educating both Aboriginal and French girls. The Ursulines were also expert embroiderers and many examples of their work are on display. There's a lovely chapel on site. It dates from 1902 but retains some interiors from 1723.
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Musée du Fort
Not really a museum at all, the Musée du Fort houses a 30min multimedia show on the many attempts over the centuries to take Québec City, played out on a model/diorama that lights up in the middle of a mini-theater. The breathless narration and anaemic smoke puffs that pass for special effects are a bit hokey but it does give a quick, enjoyable, easy-to-grasp audio-visual survey of the city's battles and history, making a good introduction to it.
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Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec
Anyone curious about Québec art needs to carve out at least half-a-day for a visit to this museum, one of the best in the province. There are expert permanent exhibitions that range from art and artists in the early French colonies to Québec's abstract artists. There's also individual halls devoted entirely to the province's artistic giants of the last century.
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Nunavik Information Centre
Far in Québec's north, Nunavik is almost completely inhabited by Inuit. Most Quebecers know little about the Inuit culture or this fascinating region. This modest center was opened mainly to promote tourism to the area, but it also has interesting pictures and small craft displays. The friendly staff are more than willing to shoot the breeze for the genuinely curious, answering questions on anything from the Inuit language to Inuit culture.
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Showing 1-8 of 8 results
