Montreal – Churches

  

On Saturday we booked a walking tour of the Old Town.  I’d highly recommend this to anyone visiting Montreal for the first time.  Our guide’s forefathers were among the first settlers in the area and much of his tour took on a personal flavour as he related Montreal’s history to the stories handed down from his family.  One of the highlights of the tour was the Notre Dame Basilica.   It dominates a large plaza set in the heart of Old Montreal

This gothic revival cathedral is the largest in Montreal and it was designed by an Irish Architect from New York . It’s design was based on the cathedral situated in Paris however as the local craftsmen were more familiar working with wood rather than stone, the entire interior is beautifully carved from local hardwoods.  At the time of its construction  it was the largest cathedral in North America.  It was built in 5 years beginning in 1824  with the main edifice completed in 1829.  The twin stone towers were added in 1843 and 1845.  One of the towers houses the Saint Jean Baptiste bell.

  

The interior is incredible and the lighting highlights the amazing wood carvings and many items of art.

    

Two of the many events that took place in the main Nave, were Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s funeral and Celine Dion’s wedding.

The Chapel of Notre Dame Sacre-Coeur was built later to accommodate smaller weddings and funerals.  It became known as the Wedding  Chapel and was partially destroyed by fire  in 1978.  Rather than try to duplicate the original wood carving the new architect chose a more modern design  for the ceiling and frontpiece which were damaged beyond repair.  This caused much controversy.  Now opinions are divided as to whether the marriage of the original intricately carved side porches and the new more modern ceiling and frontpiece is successful.   Harv and I thought it was brilliantly done and that the old and new together brought a peaceful atmosphere of  worship and reverence.

We also took pictures of a number of the other old Churches in downtown Montreal.

              

 

This church was on the harbour and was nicknamed, the Sailor’s church.  It was called The Norte Dame –de Don Scours Chapel or the “ Chapel of Our Lady of Good Help”

It looked like a conglomeration of buildings from the outside but was glorious inside with a vaulted ceiling and fabulous stained glass windows.

        

We passed on touring more churches, truly enjoying and marvelling at the ones we did see.