Saint-Sauveur, Quebec City

Saint-Sauveur (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ sovœʁ] ⓘ) is one of the 35 neighbourhoods of Quebec City, and one of the six that are situated within the borough of La Cité–Limoilou.

In the complete beginning of the French regime, the lowlands of the plain bordering the Saint Charles River, where Saint-Sauveur would be founded, were set aside as communal lands.

This project was never realized; the idea was abandoned in around 1638 and a town that would eventually become Vieux-Québec was settled instead around the Fort St. Louis.

In 1653, Jean le Sueur, the first secular priest to come to New France, received a concession from the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec extending to the river the one he already owned on the hillside.

The neighbourhood owes its name to him; his nickname extended to the land he owned, which were the eastern and western boundaries of the Durocher and Montmagny streets respectively.

[1] The faubourg, which at the time formed part of the suburbs of Quebec City, was initially sparsely populated.

In the beginning, the Domaine Bois-Bijou was owned by Michel Sauvageau; it included a villa surrounded by a large garden, several barns and a pond.

Near the beginning of the 19th century, the success of the shipyards, timber trade and port activity led to the rapid development of Saint-Sauveur.

Since 1840, Saint-Sauveur had become home to a large number of poor workers, because the building regulations in this area allowed for the construction of houses that were not fireproof.

Named in the honor of Pierre Boisseau, it became the property of Quebec City when it annexed the village of Saint-Sauveur in 1889.

[1] The Quebec City authorities moved into the neighbourhood, building sewers and pavements, along with paving and lighting streets.

At the time, Saint-Ours Street, later renamed Langelier Boulevard, was seen as the city's most beautiful thoroughfare.

[8] In 1971, a campaign was launched to dismantle the railroad that ran through part of the neighbourhood and cut it off from the Parc Victoria.