Anse du Cap des Rosiers

Cap des Rosiers, Anse du

Anse du Cap des Rosiers [Fr, "cove of the cape of rosebushes"] was named for the many wild rosebushes found there. The cape that forms the bay is a steep and shrub-covered promontory. It is located at the eastern extremity of the Gaspé Peninsula and borders on the eastern edge of Forillon National Park (created 1970). A line drawn from the northern shore of the St Lawrence River to the cape, according to the Royal Proclamation of 1763, marks where the river ends and the Gulf of St Lawrence begins. It boasts the highest lighthouse in Canada (34 m, completed 1858), which is now a national historic site (1977).

A strategic contact point for shipping approaching the St Lawrence River, the cape was named by Samuel de Champlain and appears on his map of 1632. It was here, in 1759, that the French first observed the approach of the British fleet sent to capture Québec City.