Crédit: Claire Morin
The White Village
Nestled along the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, about thirty kilometers from Quebec City, Saint-Michel captivates us with its superb view of the river estuary and its channel, oceanic vessels, and the southern part of Île d’Orléans against the backdrop of the Laurentian Mountains.
Access to the river is provided by its streets, its shores, its marina with a café terrace, its beach, and its riverside park.
The old Saint-Michel presents a remarkable ensemble of white wooden houses in various neoclassical styles of the 19th century, with their flowered galleries, balustrades, entrance porches, rolled-up roofs, dormer windows, and a variety of decorative elements. The white color was easily recognizable for sailors wanting to find their way home.
Saint-Michel-de-Bellechasse boasts an exceptional architectural heritage. In addition to the convent and the church, the presbytery (1739) and the Notre-Dame de Lourdes Chapel (1879) are unique. The Benoît Lacroix Library (1850), the heritage circuit, artist workshops, agricultural lands and their old houses, the nearby Beaumont golf course, and summer theater make it a bustling village full of activities.
