On the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, 30 kilometres from Quebec City, St Michelle is ranked one the most beautiful villages in Quebec, and commonly called “The white village”. Located across the river from Île d’Orléans with a distant view of the Laurentian Mountains, this is an agricultural and holiday centre.
Founded in 1678 as Saint-Michel-de-la-Durantaye (for the Seigneur de la Durantaye), the original village features white wooden houses with coloured roofs, flowers on the porches, and quaint dormer windows.
The village has a 1739 presbytery, one of the oldest in North America, and a processional chapel dating back to the 1680s, as well as the small 1879 sanctuary of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes on a riverside promontory park.
From highway 20, take Exit 348 and stop for a scenic view before descending onto the village.You have a view of wheat fields, the village and its bell tower, the river, the island of Île d’Orléans and the distant Laurentian Mountains. You can also take the scenic old highway 132 which crosses through the village.
St Michelle de Bellechasse Attractions
- The church (sculptures of Louis Jobin and Laurent Moisan, Déry organ)
- Presbytery (1739)
- Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes (1879), 31, rue Principale.
- Summer theater Beaumont-Saint-Michel, 51, route 132.
- ignoble Angile, 267, 2ème rang Ouest à St-Michel-de-Bellechasse(small fruits wines, sparkling)
- Artisanal wine Le Ricaneux (Apéritifs from strawberries and raspberries) 5540 rang sud-est in St-Charles-de-Bellechasse
- Atelier du voiturier d’époque, (miniature horse carriages), 15 rue de la Durantaye
- Boulangerie artisanale la Ste-Miche, 168, route 132 Est