St. Mary's Basilica (Halifax)

St. Mary's Basilica

The St. Mary's Basilica in the Canadian Halifax is a Catholic cathedral . The church belonging to the Diocese of Halifax is also its largest sacred building. The facade and the steeple are made of white granite .

Building

Construction of St. Mary's Basilica began in 1820. The cathedral, which is architecturally modeled on St. Martin-in-the-Fields , was consecrated on October 19, 1899. In 1950 the church was opened by Pope Pius XII. raised to the status of a minor basilica . Between 1991 and 1992 the steeple was restored and repaired for 1.8 million Canadian dollars. At 60.4 meters, the steeple is the tallest granite in North America.

The “Halifax Explosion” of 1917 also left its mark on the basilica: the glass of the destroyed windows and the subsequent snowstorm damaged the frescoes. In 1950 they were whitewashed with white paint. They were only exposed during the restoration work in 2019 on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the consecration and are currently being restored. The date for the completion of the apse restoration was planned shortly before Christmas 2019.

organ

View of the choir before the restoration of the apse frescoes

View through the church

The organ was built in 1960 by the organ builder Casavant. The instrument has 46 registers (2856 pipes ) on three manuals and a pedal . The playing and stop actions are electro-pneumatic.

I positif expressif C – c 4 Pointed Viola 8th' Chimney Flute 8th' Dulciana 8th' Pointed flute 8th' Coupling flute 4 ′ Nasat 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ recorder 2 ′ third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ Krummhorn 8th' Rohrschalmei 4 ′ Tremulant Harmonic Trumpet 8th'

II Great Organ C – c 4 Flûte conique 16 ′ diapason 8th' Hollow flute 8th' Gemshorn 8th' Octave 4 ′ Reed flute 4 ′ Octave Quint 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Great Octave 2 ′ Fittings IV 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Cymbal III 2 ⁄ 3 ′ Harmonic Trumpet (from I) 8th'

III Swell Organ C – c 4 Violin Principal 8th' Metal covered 8th' Salicional 8th' Voix céleste 8th' Octave violins 4 ′ Flûte triangulaire 4 ′ Fifteenth 2 ′ Plein Jeu IV 2 ′ Contra fagotto 16 ′ Trumpets 8th' Clairon 4 ′ Tremulant

Pedal C – g 1 Open diapason 16 ′ Violone 16 ′ Sub bass 16 ′ Flûte conique (from II) 16 ′ Principal 8th' Bass flute 8th' Flûte conique (from II) 8th' Octave 4 ′ Mixture III 5 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Bombard 16 ′ Fagotto (from III) 16 ′ Trumpet 8th' Clarion 4 ′

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Historical outline of St. Mary's Basilica (English) ( Memento from October 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
2. ^ Church restoring murals damaged during the Halifax Explosion. CBC News, accessed November 9, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Information on the organ

Web links

Commons : St. Mary's Basilica (Halifax)  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

• Site of St. Mary's Basilica of Halifax

Coordinates: 44 ° 38 ′ 39 "  N , 63 ° 34 ′ 23"  W.