Rimouski
Rimouski is a city in the southeast of the Canadian province of Quebec. It is located in the administrative region of Bas- Saint- Laurent, about 275 km northeast of the provincial capital of Quebec. Rimouski is the capital of Bas -Saint -Laurent and the Regional County Municipality ( municipalité régional du comté ) Rimouski - Neigette, has an area of 339.84 km ² and has 46,860 inhabitants ( 2011). The city was founded in 1696 at the estuary of the St. Lawrence River is the seat of an archbishopric and a university.
Geography
Rimouski is located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, whose estuary is here more than 50 km wide. The coast are superimposed several islands, including the Île Saint- Barnabé, the Îlet Carnuel, the Île du Bic and the Ile Bicquette. From a narrow coastal strip starting the terrain gradually rises to a height of almost 250 meters, forming a broad, predominantly wooded plateau with numerous streams and small lakes. In the south-north direction extends the deeply cut valley of the Rivière Rimouski. This 113 km long river flows at the center of Rimouski in the estuary. The town also includes several villages: Le Bic, Rimouski - Est, Pointe -au -Père on the coast, Sainte -Odile -sur- Rimouski in the valley of Rivière Rimouski, Sainte- Blandine and Mont- Lebel on the plateau. On the western city limit at the headland Cap à l' Orignal, the Parc national du Bic extends.
Neighboring communities are Saint- Fabien in the West, Saint -Eugène -de- Ladrière the southwest, Saint- Valérien and Saint -Narcisse -de- Rimouski in the south, Saint -Marcellin in the Southeast, Saint- Anaclet -de- Lessard in East and Sainte- Luce in the northwest.
Climate
Rimouski has a cold temperate, fully humid climate ( Köppen classification: Dfb), with cold, snowy winters and warm summers. The average annual amount of snow is 271.7 cm, the average annual rainfall 915 mm. In January, the average temperature drops to -11.7 ° C and in July it rises to 18.2 ° C. Coldest ever recorded temperature is -33.0 ° C on 15 January 1984 heat record is 36.0 ° C on July 4, 1983.
History
The oldest traces of human habitation in the fall paläoindianische era. Stone tools of the Plano - era around 8000 years ago came in 1992 during excavations in the context of motorway construction near Sainte -Odile -sur- Rimouski revealed. For a second period around 4000-3000 years ago, called the Maritime Archaic, come with several discoveries on the Cap à l' Orignal. End of August 1535, the French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the coasts around Rimouski. He described among other things the islands Bic, Bicquette and Saint- Barnabé. The first Frenchman who made detailed explorations inland, was the Jesuit missionary Henri Nouvel, who followed in the company of the natives Rivière Rimouski in December 1663.
Jacques -René de Brisay, the governor of New France, rendered on 24 April 1688, the Seigneurie Rimouski Rouer Augustin de la Cardonnière. The name comes from the language of the Mi'kmaq word meaning " land of the moose ". Rouer never settled in the territory had granted him and used it just for fishing. This displeased the colonial administration, which pushed for land clearing to settle farmers and their families. For this reason, exchanged Rouer on July 10, 1694 his property with René Lepage de Sainte -Claire and received this in return, the Ile d' Orléans. Lepage, who originally came from Ouanne in Burgundy, went well in the same year there and began to build a house. In 1696 he settled there with his family.
1701, the parish of Saint- Germain -de- Rimouski was founded. In the 1780s pledged Lapages offspring due to a financial hardship the Seigneurie gradually to Joseph Drapeau, a businessman from the city of Québec. When the Lepage could not repay their debts, took Drapeau 1790 the whole property and became the new Seigneur. Rimouski at that time was 333 inhabitants, most of whom lived near the river bank. The Seigneur and the inhabitants called 1792 in a petition the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada to extend the ending in Trois -Pistoles road to Rimouski. This project could only be completed in 1817. In 1820 the development Rimouskis started a center for forestry, where you took advantage of the Rivière Rimouski for rafting.
A year after the lifting of Seigneurie received Rimouski in 1855 the status of a municipality, city status in 1869. The opening of a branch line of the Intercolonial Railway in 1873 Rimouski was connected to the railway network. This improved accessibility meant that the farmers of the region began to specialize in the dairy industry. The forestry sector continued to grow in importance; Lumber, pulp and other wood products were exported to the United States and Great Britain. Around 1910 were responsible Rimouski and the surrounding area for almost one -seventh of the total wood production of the province of Quebec.
From the 1950s, the timber industry declined sharply, partly because of over-exploitation of forests, on the other hand due to falling demand. On May 6, 1950, a devastating major fire, which became known as nuit rouge ("red night " ) in the story happened. The fire broke out in the wooden stock of the sawmill of the Price Brothers Company from, was carried quickly across the Rivière Rimouski due to strong winds and destroyed 230 homes (about a third of all buildings ). There were no fatalities, but about a quarter of the residents were temporarily homeless. The destroyed part of the city was then rebuilt according to modern town planning principles.
Rimouski, which had been officially named until 1920 by the parish of Saint- Germain -de- Rimouski, developed from the 1960s to the center of administration, education and services. In 1967, the western suburbs Nazareth and Notre- Dame-du -Sacré - Cœur were incorporated. In the context of administrative reforms followed in 2002 further incorporations: To the city Rimouski pushed the municipalities of Mont- Lebel, Pointe -au -Père, Rimouski -Est, Sainte- Blandine and Sainte -Odile -sur- Rimouski. 2009 finally was incorporated also Le Bic.
Attractions
In Rimouski there is a historical site, which is a National Historic Site under protection. It involves the Phare de Pointe -au -Père, the second highest lighthouse in eastern Canada. Despite the devastating Great Fire of 1950 some historic buildings have been preserved. Landmark of the city is the 1859 completed Cathedral Saint- Germain, the seat of the Archdiocese of Rimouski. There are also several residential buildings such as the Maison Lamontagne ( 1745), the Maison Letendre ( 1857), the Maison Perron ( 1745), the Maison Joseph Gauvreau (1907 ) and the Maison Roy (1810 ).
Musée régional de Rimouski
The hall Desjardins - Telus
Maison Lamontagne
Parc Lepage
Promenade
Submarine Onondaga in Pointe -au -Père
Population
According to the 2011 census counted 46,860 inhabitants Rimouski, which corresponds to a population density of 137.9 inh. / Km ². 98.2 % of the population reported French as the main language, the proportion of English was 0.6 %. As a bilingual ( French and English) is designated 0.3 %, to other languages and multiple responses accounted for 0.9%. Only 76.5 % spoke French. In 2001, 95.4 % of the population were Roman Catholic, 0.6 % Protestant, and 3.5 % non-denominational.
Transport and the economy
On the southern outskirts of Rimouski a segment of Autoroute 20 between Le Bic and Mont- Joli runs. Although classified as a highway, this road is two lanes ( with occasional passing lanes ); it serves primarily as a bypass. An important cross-regional main street is Route 132, which connects the provincial capital of Quebec with the Gaspésie. At the station of Rimouski keep VIA Rail express trains from Montreal to Gaspe and Halifax. Rimouski has a harbor; from there is a ferry across the St. Lawrence River after Forestville in the region Côte- Nord (no operation in the winter when the stream is frozen partially ). Three kilometers northeast of the city center is a regional airport for general aviation with a 1400 m long airstrip.
The main industries today are metalworking, carpentry and food production, while the once important paper industry is no longer present. By far the largest share of economic affairs borne by the service sector in particular because of the role Rimouskis as an administrative and educational focus. Also of importance is tourism.
Education
The Université du Québec à Rimouski is a linking state Université du Québec belonging University. It was founded in 1969, has around 6,500 students and has a branch office in Lévis. There are also several important educational and research centers in the maritime sector: the Institute Maritime du Québec (vocational training for ship officers, mechanics, shipbuilding, professional divers ), the Institute des sciences de la mer de Rimouski Ismer ( Oceanographic Research Institute of the University ) and in the neighboring Sainte - Flavie Maurice Lamontagne Institute ( oceanographic research institute with a focus on marine biology ).
Culture
Rimouski is known for regularly scheduled cultural events. These include the Festi Jazz International de Rimouski ( International Jazz Festival), the Carrousel international du film de Rimouski ( Film Festival for Children and Youth Films ) and the Salon du livre de Rimouski (oldest literary festival in Québec). The Musée de la Mer ( Sea Museum ) near the lighthouse at Pointe -au -Père deals with the Canadian maritime history. You can see there including the only publicly accessible submarine of the country ( the HMCS Onondaga ) and an exhibition about the sinking of the transatlantic passenger liner Empress of Ireland. The Musée régional de Rimouski deals with history, science and contemporary art. The exhibitions at the Maison Lamontagne bring closer to the way of life in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Sports
Most famous sports team in the city is the Hockey Team Océanic de Rimouski in Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; home games are played in the Colisee de Rimouski, which offers more than 5,000 spectators. This multi -functional hall hosted the Memorial Cup in 2009. Annually since 2006, is the ATP Challenger Rimouski organized a tennis tournament of the ATP Challenger Tour. Of national importance is also the discharged since 2002 Rimouski Marathon.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Gabriel Bourque (* 1990), ice hockey player
- Eugène Fiset (1874-1951), politician
- Denis Grondin (born 1954 ), Bishop
- Arthé Guimond ( born 1931 ), Archbishop
- Pierre Harvey (* 1957), cross-country skiers and cyclists
- Bruno Langlois ( b. 1979 ), cyclist
- Jean -Philippe Roy (* 1979), skier
- Monique Vézina (* 1935), politician