Parliament Building (Quebec)

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The Parliament Building (French: Hôtel du Parlement) is an eight-floor building and home to the Parliament of Quebec (composed of the Lieutenant-Governor and the National Assembly) in Quebec City. The building was designed by architect Eugène-Étienne Taché and was built from 1877 to 1886. With the frontal tower, the building stands at 52 metres or 171 feet in height.

It features the Second Empire style that was popular for prestigious public buildings both in Europe and the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century. Although somewhat more sober in appearance and lacking a towering central belfry, Quebec City's Parliament Building bears a definite likeness to the Philadelphia City Hall, another Second Empire landmark in North America which was built during the same period. Even though the building's symmetrical layout with a frontal clock tower rising amidships is typical of legislative institutions of British heritage, the architectural style is believed to be unique among parliament buildings found in other Canadian provincial capitals. Its facade features a pantheon representing significant events and people in the history of Quebec.

Additional buildings were added next to the Parliament Buildings:

• Édifice André-Laurendeau was added from 1935 to 1937 to house the Ministry of Transport
• Édifice Honoré-Mercier was added from 1922 to 1925 to house the Ministries of the Treasury (Finances), the Attorney General and the Secretary General of the National Assembly
• Édifice Jean-Antoine-Panet was added from 1931 to 1932 for the Ministry of Agriculture
• Édifice Pamphile-Le May added from 1910 to 1915 for the Library of the National Assembly, various other governemtn offices and for the Executive Council

[edit] See also

• Old Parliament Building (Quebec)

[edit] References

• Deschênes, Gaston (2007). The Québec Parliament Building: A Monument to History, Saint-Lambert: Stromboli, 263 p. ISBN 978-2-921800-24-2 [translation, Benjamin Waterhouse]
• Noppen Luc (1996). L'Hôtel du Parlement, témoin de notre histoire, Sainte-Foy : Publications du Québec, 204 p. ISBN 2-551-16328-5
• L'Hotel du Parlement/National Assembly of Quebec

[edit] External links

• Parliament Building (Quebec) is at coordinates 46°48′32″N 71°12′51″W / 46.808762, -71.214178 (Parliament Building (Quebec))Coordinates: 46°48′32″N 71°12′51″W / 46.808762, -71.214178 (Parliament Building (Quebec))