Apartment for rent in the Vieux-Bourg: neighbourhood guide

On January 15, 1634, the Compagnie des Cent-Associés granted the seigneury of Beauport to Robert Giffard. That same year, he settled two tradesmen there, Jean Guyon and Zacharie Cloutier, who were joined by the first families in 1636. Around 1654, the bourg du Fargy, whose name reverses the two syllables of Giffard, became the first village nucleus in Québec.

A first church, dedicated to Notre-Dame-de-Miséricorde, was completed in December 1676. The parish was established on November 3, 1684, by Bishop François de Laval. In 1725, the seigneury had about a hundred families and 11 stone houses. Built between 1784 and 1819 at 600 avenue Royale, the Maison Girardin is one of the oldest houses on the chemin du Roy.

The seigneurial manor disappeared in the late 1870s, and the 1849 church, designed by Charles Baillargé, was destroyed by fire on January 24, 1890. Its replacement burned in turn on February 21, 1916, taking with it the parish registers kept since 1673; the current church follows its plans. Meanwhile, on February 19, 1913, the built-up core became the village of Beauport, which gained town status in 1924.

The Beauport heritage site, which runs along avenue Royale, was declared in 1964 and enlarged in 1985. On January 1, 1976, six neighbouring municipalities were merged into Beauport, which was in turn merged into Québec City in 2002; Vieux-Bourg then became one of the borough’s five neighbourhoods. On June 22, 2022, its residents voted in favour of creating a neighbourhood council.