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port roy ale cradle of history by mary charters on a rocky point jutting out into the st lawrence river samuel dc champlain constructed his fortified habitation in 160s since then place royalc in quebec city has been raxed by fires bombarded by cannon balls lined with lavish norman houses of successful merchants and abandoned for thecitys fashionable uppcrtown it has been a thriving marketplace and the place of execution for crim inals today that part of lower town is in a state of transition some build ings have been faithfully reconstruct ed others lie untouched awaiting their return to splendor thanks to a multimilliondollar restoration proj ect directed by the quebec ministry of cultural affairs and largely funded by the federal government despite destruction of many historic build ings lower town still represents the greatest concentration of 17th and 18th century stone structures in north america when renovations and reconstruction of place royalc and surrounding streets arc com pleted more than 80 buildings will have regained their original exteriors unsightly afterthoughts will be re moved hydro lines have bcn put underground and pavement will be replaced by stone slabs of irregular shapes general aspect of the area will be 1760 one year after the third siege of quebec by the british when place royalc was mutilated by 50000 can non balls in a threemonth span some buildings destroyed in the bat tle of 1759 then rebuilt in the 1760s have remained intact for the past 200 years other parts of place royale are 19th century they have nearly completed the batterie royale which was the only fortified place in the area when finished possibly by 1985 the area will be a museum of architecture although thats not the main intent place royale is already inhabited and will accommodate eventually about 100 families and service stores including the neighbor hood barber shop in addition the area will be dotted with museums containing artifacts of the 17th 18th and 19th centuries along with 20th century discobars restaurants and souvenir shops on the outside place royale will be one of the continents historical showpieces on the inside a contemporary city the ambitious project begun in 1970 after fires had destroyed 15 buildings in the late 1960s is well underway and several buildings arc now restored focal point of place royale is the small open square bounded on one side by notre-damc- desvictoires one of quebecs oldest stone churches which was left an empty shell after the battle of 1759 the church constructed in 1688 has a long architectural history punc tuated by repairs bombardment and restorations although its medieval appearance has been altered the church still retains its original di mensions prior to massive changes at place royale the little church was dwarfed by buildings that had reach ed twice their original height the cold grey stone was hidden under a brown deposit and the church like the whole area had suffered from what observers called a century of bad taste notrcdamcdcsvictoircs stands on the site of the first building in quebec city the kings store of champlain which was demolished in 1629 during the first english occu pation excavation is carried out next to the church to find the kings store and turn it into another his torical site in the centre of place royale is a statue of louis xiv a gift of the french government placed cqtltwutj pjt li 13