Saguenay is known for being the name of a map on Age of Empires III, the one with the huge lake in the middle. However, Saguenay is not the name of the lake, the lake is called Lac-Saint-Jean and is about a 20-minute drive west of the city. Saguenay isn’t the name of the city either, it’s the name of the river that Chicoutimi, the city, is aligned on.
The city started as a trading post in the 17th century, but it didn’t develop until a sawmill was built in 1842. The old paper mill that closed in 1930 is now an industrial museum called La Pulperie de Chicoutimi. Bagotville nearby is the only military base in the country that the public can access and has an Air Defence Museum at the end of a runway.
The Sacred Heart Church was built in 1903 as the city expanded from industrial development from the paper mill. The Neo-gothic place of worship is a historical monument for its role in the history of Eudists in Canada. The St. Francis Xavier Cathedral is near the old port area of Chicoutimi.
The waterfront park at the old port has pleasant cycling trails just blocks away from a historic downtown. The old bridge crossing the Saguenay River has been converted for pedestrians and cyclist use only.
The Petite Maison Blanche was built in 1890 on a craggy rock surface along a stream. It suffered during the flood of 1947 and 1996 from heavy rain but survived both times. It was turned into a museum in 2005 with a physical hunt for Wally from Where’s Wally?, known as Charlie in French.
