Marie-Reine-du-Monde de Montréal
Marie-Reine-du-Monde de Montréal ("Queen Mary of the World of Montreal") is a Roman Catholic basilica in the Canadian city of Montreal and the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Montreal . It is located on Boulevard René-Lévesque , between Place du Canada and the Central Station and near Square Dorchester . The building was built between 1875 and 1894 in the neo-renaissance style and is a scaled-down replica of St. Peter's Basilica . It has been a National Historic Site since 1999 .
history
On July 8, 1852, the Saint-Jacques de Montréal cathedral was destroyed by a major fire, along with 1200 other buildings. Bishop Ignace Bourget then commissioned the planning of a new building. He explicitly wanted a replica of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome . The new cathedral was intended on the one hand to underline the growing importance of ultramontanism in Québec , on the other hand to challenge both the Sulpizian order and the Anglican Church , who preferred the neo-Gothic style for their church buildings. The planned building site in the then predominantly English-speaking western part of the city center was also controversial, some distance from the residential areas of the French Canadians.
In 1857 the architect Victor Bourgeau traveled to Rome on behalf of the bishop to inspect St. Peter's Basilica. Bourgeau finally turned down the project because, in his opinion, St. Peter's Basilica could not be rebuilt and the harsh winters would hinder the construction work. Bishop Bourget made another attempt in 1868 and sent the chaplain Joseph Michaud to make plans and a model. Michaud's mission was a secret, as Rome was then threatened by the troops of the Italian King Victor Emmanuel II .
Work began in 1870 under the direction of Victor Bourgeau, but had to be interrupted from 1878 to 1885 for financial reasons. Bourgeau died in 1888, after which Michaud took over the construction management. Finally, the cathedral was consecrated on March 25, 1894. As with the burnt down cathedral, the church patron was initially St. James the Elder . The execution of the statues dragged on until 1900. Pope Benedict XV granted the cathedral the status of a minor basilica in 1919 . At the suggestion of Cardinal Paul-Émile Léger , Pope Pius XII. the cathedral was renamed Marie-Reine-du-Monde.
Building
The cathedral is 101.5 meters long, 45.7 meters wide and 76.8 meters high; the diameter of the dome is 22.9 meters. This makes Marie-Reine-du-Monde a little more than half the size of St. Peter's Basilica. The facades are made of unplastered or embossed gray limestone , the window frames are made of high-quality stone . The copper- clad dome rests on a wooden structure . 13 statues by the sculptor Joseph-Olindo Gratton crown the facade and represent various saints.
The inside of the dome is decorated with medallions . They represent the four evangelists and their symbols; in addition there are the coats of arms of the archbishops Ignace Bourget and Édouard-Charles Fabre and of Pope Leo XIII. A canopy spans the high altar below the dome . It is a replica of a work by Gian Lorenzo Bernini . Ornamental panels adorn the walls of the nave and the transept. The motifs are the first mass in Montreal and heroic events during the conversion of the natives. The chapel has four smaller chapels. All the bishops and archbishops of Montreal are buried in the mortuary chapel. To the right of the main entrance to the cathedral is a bronze statue of Archbishop Ignace Bourget. The work of the sculptor Louis-Philippe Hébert was unveiled in 1903.
organ
The organ goes back to an instrument that was built in 1893 by the organ builder Casavant Frères Ltée. The instrument had 50 stops on three manual works and a pedal . In 1951 the organ was rebuilt by the builder company and expanded to 76 registers. In 1996 the instrument was restored by the organ builder Guilbault-Thérien (St-Hyacinthe). Today it has 93 stops on four manual works and a pedal.
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Web links
- Official website (French)
- Photos of the cathedral ( Memento of July 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- 360 ° panorama of the interior
- More photos
Individual evidence
- ^ Lieu historique national du Canada de la Cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde. In: Lieux patrimoniaux du Canada. Parks Canada, accessed October 28, 2011 (French).
- ↑ a b Historique. (No longer available online.) Cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde, archived from the original on October 18, 2013 ; Retrieved February 9, 2013 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ L'extérieur de la Cathédrale. Cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde, archived from the original on September 26, 2008 ; Retrieved October 28, 2011 (French).
- ↑ L'intérieur de la Cathédrale. Cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde, archived from the original on November 9, 2008 ; Retrieved October 28, 2011 (French).
- ↑ Le monument de Monseigneur Bourget. Cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde, archived from the original on July 8, 2011 ; Retrieved October 28, 2011 (French).
- ↑ Information on the organ
Coordinates: 45 ° 29 '57.1 " N , 73 ° 34' 5.7" W.