Louisbourg Tourist Attractions
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The town of Louisbourg is most famous for the Louisbourg Fortress. The town and surrounding area are very senic with beautiful seascapes and natural areas. People visiting can use the town as a base to explore both the fortress and nearby Cape Breton Highlands National Park.Louisbourg (Fortresse de Louisbourg), once an important French military base and now one of the most visited historical sites in Canada, lies on the eastern side of Cape Breton Island about 40km (25mi) south of the town of Sydney.Visitor Reception Center (about 1km (1/2mi) from the fortress, and where the bus leaves for the park).Louisbourg Fortress, which has been reconstructed, is open to visitors.Under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht which ended the War of the Spanish Succession, France was forced to cede Newfoundland and large tracts of Acadia to Britain, retaining only the Îsle Royale (now Cape Breton Island) and the Îsle St-Jean (now Prince Edward Island). These two islands became the hub of the exceptionally lucrative French cod fishing industry centered on the waters of the Grand Banks off Newfoundland. The port of Louisbourg was established by the French on the east side of the Îsle Royale in 1719, at which time the substantial fortifications were also built. All around Louisbourg long rows of wooden racks were constructed on which the cod were salted and dried before being exported as "klipfish". Trade with France, Québec, the islands of the Caribbean and parts of Newfoundland flourished. In 1745, the French having declared war on Britain, Louisbourg came under attack. Being difficult to defend on the landward side, it fell to the British after seven weeks. The 1748 Treaty of Aachen however returned Louisbourg to France. Ten years later the British again laid siege to the port, this time with a force of 16,000 men and 150 ships. On this occasion too Louisbourg held out for seven weeks. Afterwards the British razed the fortress walls to prevent the town from being fortified anew.In 1961 Canada's federal government undertook the reconstruction of part of the Fortresse de Louisbourg. The result is that fortifications, the harbor, buildings, courtyards and gardens can today be seen very much as they appeared in 1740. In the course of the rebuilding archaeologists excavated the old foundation walls.
Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site
Louisbourg Fortress, or "la Forteresse de Louisbourg", is Canada's most famous historical reconstruction, the prototype of a "Living History Museum" offering visitors an opportunity to experience at first hand the rigors of mid 18th c. life on the far from hospitable, frequently mist-shrouded, east coast of Canada. Throughout the main tourist season appropriately costumed "townspeople" - servants, soldiers, merchants, maids and fishermen - re-enact the arduous daily round of those times. Two restaurants serve specialty dishes prepared from old recipes.The Forteresse de Louisbourg, modeled on those built by Vauban, is surrounded by a wall with towers and bastions, and encompasses more than forty buildings. The town, of which seven blocks of houses were rebuilt, was right on the water, so that ships could moor there. The most luxurious buildings are in the "Bastion du Roi", and these were occupied by the French King's representative who was both Governor and Commandant. The ordinary soldiers' barracks, in which several had to share a room, were simply furnished. Among the numerous service facilities were a bakery, stores, a smithy, etc. The entrance to the fort is via the Porte Dauphine, close to the Armoury, and there is a museum by the Bastion du Roi.
Louisburg - Sydney and Louisburg Railway Museum
Located in a restored 1895 railway station, the Sydney and Louisburg Railway Museum contains railroad artifacts, models, photographs and paper records, rolling stock, model railroads, and souvenirs.
