Quebec City Martello Towers, Circular defensive towers in La Cité-Limoilou, Canada.

The Quebec City Martello Towers are three of four round stone towers built in 1812; tower No. 3 was demolished in 1904. The west wall facing the enemy is thicker, while the thinner east wall could be destroyed from the enceinte if captured. The two central towers (No. 2 and No. 3) and the smaller end towers (No. 1 and No. 4) were designed to house garrisons of about 20 and 12 men of the Royal Artillery, respectively.

These defensive structures were built between 1808 and 1812 in response to tensions with the United States and served to protect the colony from possible attacks. They remain from a period when Britain actively reinforced its hold on North America.

The name comes from Mortella Point in Corsica, where a similar tower resisted a British naval attack in 1794. The Quebec towers were built without roofs, following a design made for warmer climates; wooden roofs with cedar shingles were added during the 1990s restoration. In the 1950s a rotating dome on tower 1 housed a 40 cm astronomical telescope.

Only Tower 1, on the Plains of Abraham above the St. Lawrence, serves as a museum; Tower 2 near the Wilfrid-Laurier and Taché entrance is used for special events, and Tower 4 on rue Lavigueur is not regularly open. Access to the upper floor is by an external wooden staircase, since the original entry was an elevated door reached by a removable ladder.

The entrances are deliberately positioned high on the walls and accessible only from inside, making it impossible for enemy soldiers to simply walk in. This simple feature shows how practical and carefully thought through the defense logic of that era was.