Scavalet saw things this way:
Overall
5
Probably the best example of an 18th-C. Vauban-style fortress in North America, October 7, 2015
Reviewer: Scavalet
Pros: French & Indian War history, re-enactors, immersive experience, photog's dream
Cons: Isolated location, marginal weather even in summer, wear layers!
If Sydney, NS is a port of call on your cruise, don't miss Fortress LOUISBOURG (not "Louisburg"), a world-class historic reconstruction. British military engineers blew it up after capturing Louisbourg in 1758, but the foundations sat untouched for 200 years and original plans in French archives made it possible to re-create the fortified town more or less as it looked in the 18th century. Only a fifth of the original town layout was rebuilt, but it's enough to give a strong sense of place & time, particularly when various re-enactors are mingling with visitors and playing out roles of the original inhabitants. Louisbourg was not just a military fort, but a commercial seaport focusing on the rich fishing grounds nearby. In its day, Louisbourg was a strategic and economically important colonial town, more well known than it is today.
