St. Michael's Cathedral (Toronto)
The St. Michael Cathedral ( English St. Michael Cathedral ) is a Roman Catholic church in Toronto , Canada . The cathedral of the Archdiocese of Toronto was dedicated to the Archangel Michael and has the title of a minor basilica .
history
The foundation stone of St. Michael was laid by Bishop Power four years after the creation of the Diocese of Toronto in 1845, using fragments from York Minster based on the original name of Toronto. The construction of the church was mainly supported by believers of Irish descent. It is one of the oldest churches in the city and was designed along with the bishop's residence by architect William Thomas, who also designed eight other churches in the city.
Bishop Power died on October 1, 1847, of typhoid that came to Toronto with Irish immigration . His funeral took place in St. Paul and he was buried in the crypt of the unfinished St. Michael Cathedral. A man who fell from the roof during construction is also buried in the crypt. The consecration of the cathedral to the Archangel Michael took place on August 29, 1848. The interior work began with the new Bishop Armand-François-Marie de Charbonnel. The 79 meter high bell tower was completed in 1866. In 1880 the organ could be installed.
In 1984 Pope John Paul II visited the church. After its extensive renovation in 2016, Pope Francis also awarded the cathedral the title of a minor basilica .
architecture
The church was built to the east on the northern edge of what was then the city center with three naves with nine bays and a church tower on the west side. In the neo-Gothic style, its architecture takes up elements of the Gothic cathedrals from the 13th or 14th century in England. However, it dispenses with a transept and the Gothic buttresses and ribbed vaults inside, with side chapels on both sides halfway along the length of the church. From the outside, the building has a distinctly Gothic appearance, characterized by pointed arches, supporting walls, stone shape, and sharp iron accents. The outside facade of the church is characterized by cream-colored bricks with stone accents. In terms of shape, all facades vary significantly. The west facade houses the main entrance and the tower and is probably the most impressive side of the church. Much of the north facade is covered by the rectory and the main building of St. Michael's Choir School. The east facade is not as impressive as the west facade, but it is the most diverse.
Interior
The main nave with its wide central aisle is separated from the side aisles by the two main arcades. The arcades are made of ivory-colored pillars with patterned spandrels of blue and red. Sixteen cast iron lanterns hang from the high aisles that illuminate the cathedral. The paintings, murals and vignettes were created in the 1930s.
Unlike many of the cathedrals built during the Gothic Revival, St. Michael has a rich and colorful interior typical of Gothic cathedrals. The stained glass in the cathedral is made of the more intensely colored antique glass instead of the common cathedral glass . The largest piece of stained glass on the east side of the building was imported from France in 1858 and created by Étienne Thevenot , the same artist who created some of the windows for Notre Dame and various other churches in Paris. The stained glass windows on the north and south walls come from Austria and Bavaria and were installed at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century instead of the original clear glass pane. Despite the Gothic style evident in many of the designs of these windows, they are actually Neo-Baroque in style.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ St. Michael's Cathedral, Toronto, 1848
- ↑ St. Michael's Cathedral to reopen after major renovations. In: ctvnews. Retrieved October 5, 2018
- ↑ St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica at gcatholic.org
- ^ A b History of the Cathedral
Coordinates: 43 ° 39 ′ 18 ″ N , 79 ° 22 ′ 37.2 ″ W.