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Annapolis Royal is the oldest permanent European
settlement in North America north of Florida. First called Port Royal by Samuel
de Champlain, it was the administrative and military centre of Acadie until its
final capture by the British in 1710. Renamed in honour of Queen Anne, the
spectacular little town served as Nova Scotia's capital until the founding of
Halifax in 1749.
Located at the western end of Nova
Scotia's Annapolis Valley, the town occupies a low-lying cape at the confluence
of the Annapolis and Allain's rivers. East of town, the Annapolis River widens
to form the French Basin. Below town to the west, the river widens again into
the Annapolis Basin, creating a huge natural harbour before emptying into the
Bay of Fundy through the Digby Gut. This dramatic landscape is framed by the
two parallel ranges known as the North and South Mountains.
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