Quebec Parliament Building (Quebec City, Quebec)

 parliament  Add category

The Parliament Building (French: Hôtel du Parlement) is an eight-floor building and home to the Parliament of Quebec (composed of the Lieutenant-Governor and the National Assembly) in Quebec City. The building was designed by architect Eugène-Étienne Taché and was built from 1877 to 1886. With the frontal tower, the building stands at 52 metres or 171 feet in height.

It features the Second Empire architectural style that was popular for prestigious buildings both in Europe (especially France where the style originated) and the United States during the Victorian era. Although somewhat more sober in appearance and lacking a towering central belfry, Quebec City's Parliament Building bears a definite likeness to the Philadelphia City Hall, another Second Empire landmark in North America which was built during the same period. Even though the building's symmetrical layout with a frontal clock tower rising amidships is typical of legislative institutions of British heritage, the architectural style is believed to be unique among parliament buildings found in other Canadian provincial capitals. Its facade presents a pantheon representing significant events and people in the history of Quebec.