Fortress of Louisbourg

The Fortress of Louisbourg is a working reconstruction of a French colonial town as it appeared around 1744, one year before the first British siege. About a fifth of the original fortified town has been rebuilt on its 18th-century foundations, populated by costumed interpreters who re-enact the daily life of soldiers, merchants, fishermen, and the occasional nobleman. The effect is less theme park than living archaeology: the interpreters stay in character, the buildings smell of woodsmoke and salt fish, and the bakery produces actual soldier's bread from period recipes.

The site is large — allow at least three hours. The main fortifications give views over the harbour; inside, the Governor's Apartment, the guardhouse barracks, and the merchant quarter each tell a different part of the story. Period-appropriate meals are available at the town's tavern. The visitor centre at the entrance has an excellent historical display covering both the 1745 and 1758 sieges.

The fortress is about 30km southeast of Sydney, at the southern end of Cape Breton Island. Open May to October; National Parks pass required.

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A story
Louisbourg was once the most heavily fortified town in North America — a French naval base whose cannon were supposed to guard the entrance to the St Lawrence. The British took it twice, in 1745 and again in 1758, and after the second siege demolished it so thoroughly that the ruins lay mostly forgotten under grass for two centuries. The modern reconstruction, begun in 1961, employed more workers than the original 1720s construction and is now the largest historical reconstruction project in Canadian history.