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The Root Cellars of Rural Québec – Avenue Royale
There’s an historic 57 km (35 mi) stretch of road that runs parallel to the St-Lawrence river through the rural Québec countryside east of Québec City. Known simply as La Route de la Nouvelle-France, along with the Chemin du Roy, it makes up one of the oldest continuously used roadways in North America.
This scenic road connecting Old Québec City and the smaller villages and farmland to the east follows today’s route #360 – also called Avenue Royale, it was mapped out and built in the middle of the 17th century to allow the farmers of the Côte-de-Beaupré region to transport their goods by horse and cart to markets in Québec City, which by then was already becoming a popular commercial trading center.
Today this scenic route is very popular with bicycle tourists and is actually a part of our famous cross-country mixed-use coast-to-coast-to-coast Trans-Canada Trail.
The road takes travelers through a number of lovely little small towns and villages, and some of the most scenic farmland in the province; at times offering spectacular views of the river and the distant hills of the Charlevoix region.
I recently took a drive along this stretch of road to explore and capture some of the historic sites from over four centuries of European settlement.
From heritage houses dating back to the 1650’s, old barns, and roadside travelers’ chapels,
the Route de la Nouvelle-France has much to offer the curious visitor.
One of my favourite discoveries on this day were these odd-looking stone-walled entrances cut into the sides of the hill along the road.
Positioned on the north side of the slope directly across the road from either an old farmhouse or a barn, I quickly developed an idea of what these things might be.
At one point I just had to pull over and get a closer look to confirm it for myself.
Caveau à légumes = Root Cellar.
Yes the settlers of the area learned over the years that the best way to preserve their fruits and vegetables through the winter months was in naturally insulated root cellars carved into the hills across the road from their farms.
As you follow the Route de la Nouvelle-France from Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré to Old Québec you’ll see several dozen of these root cellars that have been preserved and/or restored thanks to a local heritage society initiative.
Some are obviously in much better shape than others
and many of them are still in use today.
But each one is quite unique…
and offers a fascinating glimpse into the lives of rural Québec farmers over the past few hundred years.
As always, thanks so much for dropping by 🙂
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I thought that I loved that little chapel (which I did), but then those root cellars had so much character. Great finds. 🙂
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Just catching up on some of your recent door posts. This one is a unexpected delight!
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Wow, Norm! We have attached root cellars and usually none with stone fronts. Those small little blessings, one with turquoise doors gave me a sweet and peaceful feeling. I’m liking the description you used, we call them “roadside rest stops” while you included chapels. I like the way you and many Canadians use effective description to best results. 🕊️ 🦋
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I love your pictures of Quebec province, Norm! These especially – so fascinating!
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Wonderfully unique finds, Norm. The root cellars are so cool (literally and figuratively,) Love the tiny Chapell, too.
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Charming!
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Great finds Norm! The root cellars are so neat, and the little chapel with the blue door is wonderful.
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cool little church. Never heard of root cellars. Those are cool too.
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They are in fact cool – quite literally 😉
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Beautiful stuff. I love it all. Tiny chapel appeals to me — a moment of solitary gratitude. Plus, the rustic beauty captured in the root cellars. Great doors! 🙂
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Thanks Joey. It was such a perfect mild day, ideal to slow down and explore.
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Very interesting post and lovely doors! I had never heard of root cellars. Living an learning! 🙂
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To be honest, until I came across these ones I had never heard of such a thing either.
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Look like Hobbit doors. Love them.
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It was a fun discovery 🙂
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Some very unique root cellars! Although in the dead of winter – I don’t know if I’d like to trudge through the snow and ice to get a potato!
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Well, I guess if you’re hungry enough… 😀
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Excellent! Yours seem to be in much better condition than similar ones in Pitigliano and around, dug into the tuff for a similar use, no doubt.
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It was by far my best discovery in quite a while and such an enjoyable drive 🙂
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Such unique and fanciful doors! I’m going to pretend that they are Hobbit dwellings rather than root cellars, if you don’t mind.
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No problem. Hobbit doors it is then 😉
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Very interesting 💜💜
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I thought so too 🙂
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Much more inviting than our Midwest root cellars. We dug down to avoid twisters and usually there’s only a hump in the ground with a door to tell it’s even there.
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In the end as long as it did the job I’m sure function was more important than form. I just find it fascinating that farmers in different places all over the world figured out the same storage techniques all in slightly different ways.
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Good point👍🏻
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How ingenious, and enough place to store for a whole winter! And with a nice curb appeal! remember from my childhood tin Holland that in the 50ties the houses were still built with cellars underneath the house for the same reason as these root cellars.
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I read in my research that back then a cellar able to hold 200 sacs of potatoes was considered the perfect size for a typical family. It really was the only way to store food back then.
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We have come a long way! Also, I’m beginning to understand how a blackout would wipe out “civilized” life.
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Amazing doors complete with history to go with. I’ve never heard of roadside travelers’ chapels, but want to see one in person. Root cellars I know about, although I’ve not seen ones as unique as these. Cool photos. Nicely doored.
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Thanks Ally. There are quite a few of those roadside chapels just east of Quebec City. If you ever make it out that way be sure to visit Ile D’Orleans where you’ll find a whole network of them around the island. I featured those in this post last year: https://wp.me/p4yv1P-1qK
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Thank you, Norm. You’ve taken me on a drive I’ll probably never get around to, but should 🙂
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That’s one of the things I like the most about our little Thursday Doors event; sharing and discovering different parts of the world with each other.
Who knows, you may just get around to visiting this area one day 😉
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What a perfectly practical solution to food storage – and such great doors, too! 🙂
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Thanks Ruth. For food storage it make perfect sense once you stop to think about it, but until I say these I had never thought about it.
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They remind me of the old ice houses that stored huge blocks of ice before refrigeration was invented 🙂
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Remarkable, almost like little Hobbit houses
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Indeed Ian. That thought had crossed my mind as well.
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Great selection. I love that little chapel. So pretty.
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Thank Carrie. I was impressed with how well-maintained it is too.
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What wonderful, Hobbitty places! I do love stone, but I think the bulgy little whitewashed one is my favorite. 🙂
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Thanks Marian. I thought of Hobbits at first as well 🙂
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Great finds, Norm, and well captured. I’d love one of those old root cellars, seeing as we don’t have a fridge and the weather is getting warmer. Hmmm……. we have a lot of soil in our garden, though……
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Thanks Jean. Well just hand Hubby a spade and tell him to start digging 😀
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Norm, I’d take that drive just to see the root cellars – beautiful images.
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Thanks Suzanne. It was a day filled with interesting discoveries 🙂
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That looks like a great trail to take, Norm. Thanks for letting me ride along with you. I love the root cellars and the chapel reminds me of those I’ve seen in France along the little roads.
janet
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Thanks Janet. I was thinking that these might be something one would see in rural France as well.
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Fantastic! Really enjoyed these.
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Thank you Susi 🙂
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I was captivated with the roadside chapel but then when you explained the root cellars you totally blew me away!
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Pretty cool stuff eh? Quite literally in fact 😉
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That’s a pretty cool bit of history, Norm. I have to make sure there isn’t a hill across from our house before showing this to my wife – she’d have me digging one. I really like the roadside chapel, I’m glad you got a photo of the inside. The root cellars are amazing little structures. I am glad they’ve been preserved or restored. They tell an important story about how this land was settled and how the settlers survived.
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Thanks Dan. The history these things remind us of was exactly what I was thinking all along my drive. It’s a wonderful part of the Province to visit if you ever get the chance 🙂
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I hope to get back up there at some point, Norm. I think I would like to visit the things you’ve shown us, more than the “official” tourist sites I saw the first time I was there.
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The Traveler’s Chapel is absolutely wonderful. It is lovely on the outside and intimate on the inside. That in itself would have rocked this post, but then you added those interesting root cellars with the various colored doors. I have, of course, heard of and seen root cellars, but these are definitely the cadillacs. Wonderful tour – thank you for taking us along as you explore your beautiful countryside. 🙂
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Thanks Judy. The root cellars were an unexpected bonus that I only discovered while I was there. Cadillacs indeed. While researching it further I read somewhere that the standard size for a typical family’s cellar was big enough to hold 200 sacs of potatoes 😉
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What a wonderful find! For all my trips to Quebec City, I have never travelled this road and now I feel like I’ve missed something very special.
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It was my first time after many trips to Quebec as well.
It would be worth the detour the next time you go if you can squeeze in about a half day to explore it at a leisurely pace.
Avenue Royale goes right past the big Basilica at St-Anne-de-Beaupre. Start there, off the 138 and head west on Royale all the way back into the city. Peddling it would make for an awesome full day trip too but it’s just a bit too hilly for me.
I mean, I stopped for a bite at a bakery that’s housed in an old home built in 1652!
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The root cellars and little chapel are extraordinary. What a fantastic route that you can see these things. Great post.
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Thank you. I was expecting to see old homes and farms, perhaps a roadside chapel or two, but the root cellars were an added bonus.
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Stunning! Love the little root cellars
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Thank you Sarah. Glad you liked them 🙂
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