Santa Ynez Valley

Santa Ynez Valley
Our Backyard

Monday, August 7, 2017

Fortress of Louisbourg

Another place we definitely wanted to re-visit in Nova Scotia was Parks Canada's reconstruction of part of the French built Fortress of Louisbourg.  This site played a very important role in the early struggles between France and Britain for control of North America.

Our 2008 blog post about the fortress can be seen at:
 Fortress of Louisbourg - 2008


Luckily, a lot of documents about the fortress and its inhabitants have survived.






This 1980s painting by Canadian artist Lewis Parker depicts a busy day in the Louisbourg harbor in August 1744.  The ships depicted were all known to be in the harbor at that time.



The Desroches Tavern just outside the fortress walls




Dried cod was a major commercial enterprise for the area.



An early lobster trap
In this era, lobster was considered trash food only good for poor people and prisoners.



Entering the fortress via the Dauphin Gate





The Frédéric Gate near the harbor was the primary gate used by most people.



Scenes around the town








The kitchen in the residence of the Chief Engineer




A spit jack
(a weight driven mechanism for slowly turning a rotisserie spit)



The armory blacksmith shop





There were several nicely tended gardens.







They also sold traditionally made and baked bread loaves.



A few cannon and cannonballs




This large tripod with a windlass was probably used to hoist the cannon on/off their carriages.


1 comment:

  1. Very nice stuff! You guys are enjoying lots better conditions than the northwest. Multiple LDers cut short their trips this past month, us included, due to the lousy air quality from all the fires. So, breathe deep and enjoy!

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