The Churches of Montreal and Quebec

Like I said in my earlier Montreal post, I wanted to combine the rest of my pictures with some from Quebec. And those pictures are of some of the many churches in these two wonderful cities.

As you will likely find in any (heavily Catholic) French city, churches in Montreal and Quebec are nearly as numerous as Starbucks. Actually, in Quebec I believe they are more numerous than Starbucks. As an architectural history buff, church architecture often exemplifies the most elevated design of a given period. The exteriors are well maintained and the interiors are often breathtaking.

I did not (could not) visit ever church in Montreal and Quebec, but here is the photo journey of those I did.

Upon my arrival in Montreal, I passed by the Cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde de Montréal on the way to my hotel. Even at night it is beautiful.

During my tour of Vieux-Montreal, I visited two churches. The first, the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, is one of the oldest in Montreal. It was built in 1771. It's older than the USA! When I went in, I was the only person there other than the greeter. My visit was very peaceful, but I also did not feel comfortable snapping pictures in such a serene environment. Instead, I have a pictures of the exterior and the entry.

You can see the front facade on my second Montreal post, so here is the rear facade, which looks out over the harbor.

And a the beautiful ceiling of the entry.

Despite its small size, this church packs a lot of gorgeous stained glass, mosaics, shrines, and other other into a very beautiful space. A definite must see.

The other main church in Vieux-Montreal is the Basilique-de-Notre-Dame de Montreal. This is the massive church in the area, which also owns a lot of the surrounding properties (as I could tell because of this symbol on gates and such):

Anyway, the facade of the basilica is just as imposing as you might image.

But it is the interior that will take your breath away. (At first, the five dollar entrance fee seemed a bit steep for a place of worship, but a few moments inside and I understood why.)

As I said, breathtaking.

Now, when I was in Quebec City, I only went inside one church (and that was to meet up with my friend's friend Dave for my walking tour, so not exactly a photo op). But I did snap pictures of a few church exteriors.

First, here's the main church in Vieux Quebec, Cathedral Notre-Dame de Quebec.

This church is on the square that is kind of the cross-roads of Vieux Quebec, where all roads meet, so to speak.

In the lower city there is Notre-Dame des Victoires. I couldn't get a fabulous picture because of the Red Bull Crashed Ice track and related construction. Also, I couldn't go inside because the church was closed. But it looks like a lovely church.

Directly out the front door of my hotel was another huge church, the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. It took was surrounded by Red Bull construction. Gah, I'll just have to go back where Red Bull isn't there!

During my wanderings of Vieux Quebec, I stumbled upon the Chalmers-Wesley United Church, in this gorgeous old building.

And during my walk down Grand Allee, outside the city walls, I found this massive old church. The building no longer functions as a church (in fact, doesn't even have a trace of what the name or denomination used to be) but is now the Palais des Arts. I'll bet it's a wonderful gallery space inside.

Clearly, the cities of Quebec province know how to do churches, right? Beautiful architecture, unique spaces, gorgeous interiors. And, as you can see, oh so photogenic.

Hugs,
TLC