Cape Breton Island | Canada

Postcard
The Fortress of Louisbourg is partial reconstruction of an 18th-century French fortress at Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada.

When the War of Spanish Succession was settled with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, Britain was given control of mainland Nova Scotia and France was given Ile Royale, what is today known as Cape Breton Island.

On the eastern side of Cape Breton, the French found an ice-free, sheltered harbour to act as a base for France’s interests in the cod fishery and to serve as an important trading outpost. They named it Louisbourg, in honour of King Louis XIV.