Notre-Dame de Montréal
Notre-Dame de Montréal ("Our Lady of Montreal") is a Roman Catholic basilica in the Canadian city of Montreal . It is located in the old town ( Vieux-Montréal ) on Rue Notre-Dame , next to the Vieux Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice and opposite the Place d'Armes . The neo-Gothic building was built between 1824 and 1829 and replaced the former parish church of the same name.
history
The parish church of Notre-Dame was located immediately north of today's basilica. The Sulpizian Order , who owned the Île de Montréal , ordered the construction of the first church in 1672. It was created according to plans by the local monarch François Dollier de Casson and was completed in 1683. In 1720 the royal builder Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry was commissioned to rebuild the façades. The construction of two bell towers was also planned, but the financial means were only sufficient for one. Chaussegros carried out this work from 1723 to 1725.
In 1734 and 1739 the church was enlarged by adding side aisles . Due to the rapid population growth, it gradually turned out to be too small. In 1821 and 1822 it was temporarily the first cathedral of the newly established diocese of Montreal . In September 1822 a committee recommended the parish to build a much larger new building on the neighboring plot. The old church was demolished in 1830, the steeple in 1843. Various remains of the wall have been preserved.
Construction on the new church began in May 1824. The architect was James O'Donnell , a Protestant of Irish descent from New York . Shortly before his death in 1830, he converted to Catholicism ; he is the only one buried in the crypt . The new church was consecrated on June 7, 1829. At that time it was the largest on the American continent north of Mexico . Under the direction of John Ostell , the two church towers were completed in 1841 and 1843 according to O'Donnell's plans. From 1872 to 1880 the interior was completely redesigned.
From 1888 to 1891, a sacristy and the Notre-Dame du Sacré-Cœur chapel were built on the east side . The latter was badly damaged by fire in December 1978 and restored by 1982. Until 1928 the church was the tallest building in the city. Pope John Paul II granted the church the title of minor basilica on April 21, 1982 and visited it in September 1984.
Building
The basilica is located on Rue Notre-Dame opposite the Place d'Armes , the central square in the old quarter of Vieux-Montréal . On the south side is the Vieux Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice , the seminary of the Sulpizian order . The basilica has a rectangular, east-facing floor plan and a gable roof . It is made of gray limestone , the traditional building material in the old town of Montreal. The two church towers, the three high pointed arches of the portico and the polygonal buttresses of the side facades give the building a slim appearance. There are three niches with statues above the three portal arches: the Immaculate Conception and Saints Joseph of Nazareth and John the Baptist (patron saints of Canada and the French Canadians ).
Victor Bourgeau designed the Gothic interior of the basilica. After some preliminary work had already been done, Pastor Benjamin-Victor Rousselot suggested that he be inspired by the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris . The interior is rectangular and has neither an apse nor a transept. Rather, it is fully on the semicircular raised lying chancel aligned. Two rows of tall columns divide the space into a main nave and two side aisles. Vaulted ceilings hanging from the roof emphasize the division into three parallel rooms. Two rows of galleries and rising grandstands on either side are unusual. Smaller rooms for prayer and confession are arranged under the stands of the aisles.
The interior design and lighting are designed in such a way that the gaze is directed towards the altars. The iconography of the altarpiece explains the biblical basis of the divine sacrifice, reproduced through the mass and the subsequent Lord's Supper. At the top of the altar, the Virgin Mary is crowned by her risen Son. Statues represent various biblical figures.
organ
One above the entrance rises organ by Casavant Frères . It has 99 registers , divided into four manuals and a pedal with 6500 pipes . The organ was installed between 1885 and 1891; it was the first in the world to be electrically powered.
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Web links
- Official website (French)
- Photos of the basilica
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e La première église Notre-Dame à Montréal. (No longer available online.) Association des archéologues du Québec, archived from the original on December 26, 2015 ; Retrieved October 20, 2011 (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.
- ↑ Les curés de la Cathédrale. (No longer available online.) Cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde, archived from the original on January 25, 2016 ; Retrieved October 19, 2011 (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.
- ↑ a b Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal. In: Vieux-Montréal. City of Montreal and Province of Québec, accessed October 20, 2011 (French).
- ↑ Casavant, Opus 26/1034, 1891/1924/1991/2002. Université du Québec, accessed on October 20, 2011 (French, English, description of the organ).
Coordinates: 45 ° 30'16.4 " N , 73 ° 33'22.1" W.