Coastal Adventure # 4: The Triumph of Archaeology

Our cruise ship docked today at Sydney, Nova Scotia, a city I have visited several times in the past.  The tours on offer ranged over three different and widely-dispersed attractions, none of them actually in Sydney: the Cabot Trail and village of Ingonish to the northwest, the Alexander Graham Bell Museum and Bras d’Or Lake in Baddeck to the west, or the Louisbourg National Historic Site to the southeast.  I’ve been to all three in the past, but Louisbourg was the most distant in the past since I hadn’t seen it for over 30 years (1984 to be precise, on my very first trip to the Maritimes).  So that was my choice.

Louisbourg was a fortified city built by France on the southeast coast of Cape Breton Island between 1715 and 1730, and represented a remarkable achievement in terms of extreme cost and difficulty of construction by France.  Nevertheless it was easily captured by the British in the 1750s, opening the way to the eventual fall of Quebec at the end of that decade – and the end of the colony of New France.  After capturing Louisbourg, the British razed the fortifications and city to the ground, and thenceforth centred their defence efforts in Nova Scotia around the splendid natural harbour of Halifax, some three hundred kilometres to the southwest.  The site of Louisbourg was all but forgotten except by local residents, the land reclaimed by the winds and rains, the foundations overgrown with the native grasses and the stunted trees of the seashore.

The slow, painstaking reconstruction of Louisbourg by Parks Canada represents a triumph of another kind: the triumph of archaeology over shortsighted attempts to rewrite the record of history.  Using archival material found mostly in Paris, and excavating the remains of the foundations left behind, the archaeological team has been carefully rebuilding the city, building by building, on its original site.  So far, they have reconstructed a sizable portion of the city wall, two large bastions, two of the formal gateways, and four city blocks’ worth of houses, workshops, sheds, gardens, and fences.  And the work continues.

The result is a time capsule unique in Canada: a portrait of a city at the height of its brief life and power.  During the summer, costumed actors share the story of life in the city for its many and diverse inhabitants.  Even on our late fall day, there were a handful of actors recreating the life of a soldier, and the life of two quite different households.  Unlike any purely indoor museum, the reconstructed city of Louisbourg also exposes you to the natural environment of wind and rain (and snow in winter) which made life in that exposed location so difficult and indeed miserable.  That’s why it was ironic that we were blessed with beautiful sunshine and pleasant temperatures – not just because it was the first such day of the cruise, but also because such weather is something of a rarity at Louisbourg at any time of year!

So here is a photo album of a late fall day in Louisbourg.  We started in the Barracks of the King's Bastion, the largest building so far reconstructed.

Inside, we visited the Military Chapel (the seated gent was our tour guide).

The main street and Frederic Gate leading to the harbour.

A view of some backyards.  Gardens were essential to life in Louisbourg, and the scarce topsoil was carefully guarded and maintained at all times.  Food grown during the short three-month season had to last through all of the long cold winter months,

A pair of officers' homes.  The large yellow one was built by Captain de la Plagne, recently arrived from the warm, sunny south of Provence in France -- a similar latitude but rather different climate (to say the least).  Captain de Ganne, on the left, had come from Quebec and knew what was what in the New World.  Poor Captain de la Plagne may have had a very imposing house, but he had to abandon his upper floor in winter because he couldn't get enough firewood to heat it!

As always, I wanted to spend more time than our tour allowed.  Another place I need to get back to on my own time!

Back in Sydney, after lunch, I went for a walk along the harbourfront boardwalk, which has been developed much more since my last visit to the city.  In particular, there's a very powerful and moving sculpture erected as a memorial to the sailors of the Merchant Marine in World War 2.  

There were also some of the fattest ducks I have ever seen in my life -- not that I've had a really wide range of duck experiences.

Outside the new cruise terminal, the World's Largest Outdoor Fiddle greeted us, a clear reminder of the importance of traditional music in Cape Breton's lively cultural scene.

And finally, as we sailed out of Sydney Harbour, at the end of a full day, we passed a sight which I have never seen before: no less than three of the super-ferries that connect Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, all at the North Sydney Terminal at the same time.