Neuville, Cap-Santé and Deschambault

Accessible year round

The Most Beautiful Villages of the Region

The villages of Neuville, Cap-Santé and Deschambault are part of the Most Beautiful Villages of Quebec Association. Accessible from the Chemin du Roy, which is the first road that linked Québec City with Montréal, these three villages take you back to the 18^th and 19^th centuries atmosphere. The first village you will meet, Neuville, is one of the first ones established in New France around 1665. In this village you will find a great number of ancestral houses, including some that you can visit. The village enjoyed an economical boom with its limestone in the 18^th century and with its shipyard in the 19^th century. Nowadays, the beauty of the landscape draws people here. At the end of the quay, a marina allows you to take advantage of the St. Lawrence River during a beautiful summer day.

The second village, Cap-Santé, received its name from the sudden healing of the soldiers posted in the region. Its church is on the historical monument register and it is one of the last buildings of the French Regime in the region. Do not miss the presbytery, located next to the church, with its five-dormer window, as well as the stone and wooden ancestral houses built in the village. Make sure you stop at the quay to admire the view on the St. Lawrence River and on the Pointe-Platon cape on the other side. Finish your visit with the salmon pass of the Jacques-Cartier River. An interpretation centre will allow you to learn more about those fish.

Finally, the heart of the village of Deschambault is made of buildings dating back to the 19^th century, like the old presbytery and the convent. It is here that Jacques Cartier stopped on his second voyage because of the rapids, which were too dangerous for his ship and were preventing him from going farther up the river. In each of these three villages, you will find magnificent inns which architecture dates back to the 18^th and 19^th centuries.