Vieux Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The seminary seen from Rue Notre-Dame

The Vieux Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice (Old Seminary of St. Sulpicius) is a historic building in Montreal . It is located in the old town ( Vieux-Montréal ) on Rue Notre-Dame Ouest, next to the Notre-Dame de Montréal basilica and opposite the Place d'Armes . The seminary of the Sulpizian Order was built between 1684 and 1687 and is therefore the oldest remaining building in the city. It is a listed building and has been a National Historic Site since 1980 .

history

The seminar in winter

The Sulpizians were active in Montreal from 1657 and built a first seminary on Rue Saint-Paul in order to train priests. A quarter of a century later they decided to move next to the new Notre-Dame parish church. According to plans by François Dollier de Casson , the local head of the order, a new seminary was built between 1684 and 1687. Two wings were added in 1704 and 1713. In 1740 a portal was added, at the end of the 18th century a wall separating the courtyard from the street.

In 1840 the Sulpizian rule over the Île de Montréal ended . As compensation, Bishop Ignace Bourget entrusted them with the entire priestly formation of the diocese. A significant part of it was outsourced to the newly founded Grand Séminaire de Montréal . The old seminar was to be completely demolished and given way to a new building. After the east wing had been rebuilt between 1848 and 1852, the order changed its mind in 1854 and decided to keep the rest of the building in its original state. In 1907/08 an extension was added to the rear.

Building

The three-story building has many features of French colonial architecture in New France . The masonry is composed of gray limestone and roughly hewn field stones . A portal made of cut stones and a striking clock with a bell tower on top form the central axis. The clock dates from 1701, making it the oldest in North America that is still in use. The dial was made in Paris and gilded on site by the nuns of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame de Montréal . The gable of the portal contains a coat of arms of the order with the monogram AM (Auspice Maria) . In the 17th century, the Sulpizians laid out a baroque garden behind the seminary , which is still maintained today and is one of the oldest in the country.

Web links

Commons : Vieux Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lieu historique du Canada du du Séminaire-de-Saint-Sulpice et son jardin. Lieux patrimoniaux du Canada, accessed October 7, 2011 (French).
  2. ↑ a b c Vieux Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice. In: Vieux-Montréal. City of Montreal and Province of Québec, accessed October 7, 2011 (French).

Coordinates: 45 ° 30 ′ 15.2 "  N , 73 ° 33 ′ 24.3"  W.