Fortress of Louisbourg

The Place: Cape Breton

The Treasure: Fortress of Louisbourg

 

A little south of Sydney sits the Fortress of  Louisbourg – a fortification built from 1720 to 1740. The fortress changed hands between the British and French through several wars and treaties, eventually ending up under British control who later destroyed the fortification.

In the 1960’s and 1970’s work began to restore the fortress. Today approximately one quarter of the fortress has been restored.

We started our day with a bus ride from the visitor information centre down to the fortress, a couple of minutes that helps build anticipation as well as a provide great view of the fortification on the waterfront.

Which we completely neglected to get a picture of… I mean.. saving that so you can experience it yourself!

Once inside the gates we look at the map and then wandered around, more or less ignoring the map. That also allows us to put the pictures in any order we feel like, handy eh?

Grass roof is all the rage now.. and 300 years ago.

Grass Roof

Ice house – used for food storage, inside is a deep well that would be filled with ice.

Ice House

Butt rest on the buttress. Treasure Bear got a little tired at this point, said he wanted to have a buttress. Tried to explain to him but he was already asleep.

Butt Rest

And the band played on!  Music!

King’s Bastion Barracks (building also contains: Governor’s Apartments and Military Chapel)

King's Bastion Barracks

Military Chapel Military Chapel

Out in the courtyard they held two demonstrations:

Muskets Firing of the muskets

Mortar Firing off a mortar

We were heading back to catch one of the last busses out when we noticed they were setting up to fire one of the canons.

Kaboom! Kaboom!

 

Our trip to the Fortress was phenomenal and won’t be our last. There’s an overwhelming amount of history to see and experience and all of the reenactors we met were top notch in look, attitude and knowledge.

 

Music on the way out

 

 

Be sure to look for more pictures on our FaceBook page (and follow us!) and on G+.

Also, visit the Fortress Louisbourg Association and learn about how much they do.

Here is the current weather and a map to help you plan your trip:

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