Click a numbered marker on the map or a feature name under the image. The information updates in the panel on the right, and the top of the page now includes a quick historical overview of Port-Royal.
King Henri IV granted Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons a fur-trade monopoly on the condition that he establish colonies in North America.
After the difficult Saint Croix winter, de Mons and Samuel de Champlain chose the sheltered harbour of Port-Royal and began building a new settlement there.
Champlain introduced the Order of Good Cheer to lift morale through shared feasts, food, and ceremony in the Habitation.
When de Mons’ monopoly was revoked, the French left, and Membertou and the Mi’kmaq cared for the site until the settlers returned.
An English expedition from Virginia looted and burned the Habitation while the settlers were away.
The present Habitation is a reconstruction; Parks Canada notes the hand-hewn timbers were crafted during the 1939 rebuilding of the site.