Apartment for rent in Bourg-Royal: neighbourhood guide

In 1626, the land was part of the seigneury of Notre-Dame-des-Anges, granted to the Jesuits. In 1667, Intendant Jean Talon, backed by minister Colbert, expropriated part of their land between Charlesbourg and Beauport. He laid out a star-shaped village there, modelled on the Trait-Carré of Charlesbourg, with an annex to the north, Bourg-la-Reine. This plan was rare in New France, where land was mostly divided into long strips perpendicular to the river.

In 1671, the land was attached to the seigneury of Les Islets, Talon’s personal property. In 1674, Bourg-Royal had 29 lots, against 6 for Bourg-la-Reine. Farther north, the Château Bigot, also called Beaumanoir, was built in 1718 as the summer residence of the intendant of New France. Abandoned around 1850, it inspired two novels in the 1870s; its last wall was taken down in 1909.

Over time, the area remained wooded in the north and farmed in the south. In 1917, the municipality of Saint-Charles-de-Charlesbourg-Est split from Saint-Charles-de-Charlesbourg; it took the name Charlesbourg-Est in 1927. Today’s neighbourhood follows the limits of this former municipality, which joined the new city of Charlesbourg on January 1, 1976. Maurice Légacé, from 1953 to 1966, then Marcel Paradis, until 1975, were its last mayors.

Urban development is recent: a first wave of residential growth came in the 1970s. In 1979 and 1980, archaeological digs took place on the Château Bigot site while a residential area was being built. Development continued into the 2010s, and the streets follow the original radial plan. Since 2002, Bourg-Royal has been a neighbourhood of the Charlesbourg borough of Québec City.