The vaults are made of masonry arches; they remain an unusual architectural element in Canada. Their discovery in the historical core of Quebec City, specifically around Place Royale, raises questions and clues as to how their introduction not only transformed the way of building houses, but also changed the topography and the urban form.
Massive structures are built to last and the earlier examples in Quebec City were built when the colony shifted from a commercial outpost to a settlement colony. Following a fire in 1682 destroying the first generation of residential houses largely built in wood, several vaults were assembled under the new stone houses of merchants.
This article highlights the fact that the vaults’ location was closely linked to the original topography of the site, between a lower level and a higher level; allowing a direct access on one side and a protected one the other. The mapping of the vaults around Place Royale, based on of 18 archaeological reports and historical plans, reveals the extent of the groundwork. Archaeological evidence with historical process and architectural morphology sketch a more comprehensive
understanding of the characteristics of the buildings and the urban scales of Place Royale. This article reports the first findings on an ongoing morphological analysis of Quebec City vernacular building tradition.
Keywords: vaults, archaeology, history of construction, morphogenesis, geomorphology.
