Place Jacques-Cartier

Place Jacques-Cartier sits on a steep slope that once served as the main road connecting the Saint Lawrence River to the fortified city above. A bronze column topped by a statue of Horatio Nelson dominates the center of the square. When workers finished the monument in eighteen oh nine, they placed the admiral facing inland toward the city rather than out toward the sea, a decision that sparked immediate arguments among the merchants and sailors who frequented the docks to trade their goods.