Hôtel du Parlement

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Hôtel du Parlement

The Parliament Building is an eight-floor building and home to the Parliament of Québec (composed of the Lieutenant-Governor and the National Assembly) in Québec City. The building was designed by architect Eugène-Étienne Taché and was built from 1877 to 1886. With the frontal tower, the building stands at 171 feet in height. The building is located in Place Assemblée National, atop Parliament Hill just outside the walls of Old Québec.

It features the Second Empire architectural style that was popular for prestigious buildings both in Europe (especially France, where the style originated) and the United States during the latter 19th century.

Although somewhat more sober in appearance and lacking a towering central belfry, Québec City's Parliament Building bears a definite likeness to the Philadelphia City Hall, another Second Empire edifice in North America which was built during the same period. Even though the building's symmetrical layout with a frontal clock tower in the middle is typical of legislative institutions of British heritage, the architectural style is believed to be unique among parliament buildings found in other Canadian provincial capitals. Its facade presents a pantheon representing significant events and people of the history of Québec.

Photo 088, June 2014

Hôtel du Parlement

part

Photo 071, June 2014

Hôtel du Parlement

central portion

Photo 091, June 2014

Hôtel du Parlement

Jardíns de L'Assemblée (The Parliament Gardens) in front of the Parliament Building and some of the statues.

Many species of trees, shrubs and plants representative of the wide variety of flora native to Québec can be observed when walking around the gardens surrounding the Parliament Building.

You can also become familiar with the in-ground and raised garden beds of edible plants created through the collaborative efforts of Université Laval and Les Urbainculteurs. The plants represent some of the crops typically grown in Québec and are meant to promote urban agriculture, an increasingly popular practice around the world.

Photo 090, June 2014