Place:Ancienne-Lorette, Québec, Québec, Canada

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

[quoted from Wikipedia]

L'Ancienne-Lorette is a city in central Quebec, Canada. It is a suburb of and an enclave within Quebec City. It was merged with Quebec City on January 1, 2002 as part of a 2000–2006 municipal reorganization in Quebec, but after a 2004 referendum it was reconstituted as a separate city on January 1, 2006.

Its history dates back to 1674 when a group of Hurons fleeing war with the Iroquois settled there under the protection of the French. They left after a few decades and French settlers took over the land.

History

A colony started when the Jesuit Pierre Chaumonot in 1674 when he built a chapel for the Hurons. Following his third and final trip to the shrine of Loreto in Italy, Chaumonot was cured of a terrible headache. In gratitude, he placed the colony under the patronage of Our Lady of the Annunciation, but it is still commonly called Lorette.[1]

In 1697, the Hurons left in search of better land for hunting and fishing. Afterwards the site became known as Vieille-Lorette ("Old Loreto") or Ancienne-Lorette ("Former Loreto"). A new location became known as Nouvelle-Lorette ("New Loreto") or Jeune-Lorette ("Young Loreto"), and roughly corresponds to the Loretteville of today. A year later in 1698, the Parish of Notre-Dame-de-l'Annonciation was established.[1]

In 1948, the place was incorporated as the village municipality of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. In 1967, it gained town status and was took back its original name, L'Ancienne-Lorette, to distinguish itself from a Notre-Dame-de-Lorette in the Lac-Saint-Jean region.[1]

Until 1971, L'Ancienne-Lorette was the gateway to Quebec's International Airport, which therefore used to be known as L'Ancienne-Lorette Airport. But in 1971 the rural section of the town that included the airport was annexed by Sainte-Foy.

On January 1, 2002, L'Ancienne-Lorette was merged with Quebec City as part of a province-wide municipal reorganization and became part of the Laurentien borough of that city. After a 2004 referendum it again became an independent city on January 1, 2006.

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