Île Saint-Quentin, Recreational park at confluence of Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence Rivers, Trois-Rivières, Canada.
Île Saint-Quentin is a park on a natural island where the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence Rivers meet. The site features walking trails, a beach area, playgrounds, and spaces designed for different outdoor activities throughout the year.
An Algonquian tribe grew corn here before Jacques Cartier planted a cross on 7 October 1535, claiming the territory for France. On 2 June 1647 Governor Huault de Montmagny granted the island to François Marguerie, Jean Véron de Grandmesnil and Claude David; after Grandmesnil's death it was briefly called Île de la Trinité, then renamed for judge Quentin Moral dit Saint-Quentin. The city bought it on 3 November 1947, after it had served as a Royal Canadian Navy training camp, and the park and beach opened on 24 June 1962.
The island's name honours judge Quentin Moral dit Saint-Quentin, who received the land through his wife Marie Marguerie in 1652; its patron saint is Quentin de Rome. Each year it hosts the arrival of the Classique internationale de canots de la Mauricie, a painting symposium, an outdoor cinema at dusk, the Fête des couleurs and a family festival.
Access is by Route 138, part of the Chemin du Roy, via the Duplessis bridge, or from Saint-Christophe island over the Cloutier bridge. The Jean-Baptiste-Cloutier bridge replaced a small ferry that once carried bathers across in 1961. A footbridge from the Trois-Rivières-sur-Saint-Laurent site was sketched from 2002 but was not kept in the urban plans, so walkers and cyclists from downtown have no direct link.
A footbridge from Trois-Rivières-sur-Saint-Laurent to the island was sketched as early as 2002 to cross the Saint-Maurice River and give walkers and cyclists a new access from downtown, but it was never kept in the urban planning plans. Access today is via Route 138, the Chemin du Roy, over the Duplessis bridge, then the Cloutier bridge from Saint-Christophe island; before the Jean-Baptiste-Cloutier bridge was built in 1961, a small ferry carried bathers over.
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