Richelieu River

Rivière Richelieu in Saint -Marc- sur -Richelieu

Catchment area of ​​the Rivière Richelieu

The Rivière de Richelieu (English Richelieu River) is a right tributary of the St. Lawrence River in the south of the Canadian province of Quebec.

It rises in Lac Champlain ( Lake Champlain ) on the border of the U.S. states of New York and Vermont. The 171 km long river drains an area of 23,400 km ², of which 19.6 thousand km ², however, on the tributaries of Lake Champlain in the United States. The mouth of the St. Lawrence River at Sorel - Tracy is, just before the Lac Saint- Pierre.

French explorer Samuel de Champlain was in 1603 the first European to reach the river. Six years later he sailed it over its entire length. 1641 built by the French at the mouth of the Fort Richelieu, named after Cardinal Richelieu. Hence the name of the river deduced, which had previously been called Rivière des Iroquois ( River of the Iroquois ).

In general, the flow is divided into an upper and a lower part distinguished ( Le Haut -Richelieu and Le Bas- Richelieu). The reduction are the Chambly rapids below that are bypassed by the Chambly Canal. This was built from 1831 to 1843 canal is 19 kilometers long and part of the Lakes to Locks Passage, through the shipping route between the St. Lawrence River and the Hudson River. Dominated until the first half of the 20th century, the transportation of goods, so today is the predominant leisure traffic.