Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec, Quebec City, Canada

The Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec is the oldest church in the Americas north of the Spanish colonies in Florida and New Mexico. It is a National Historic Site of Canada, and located within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Historic District of Old Québec.

Located on this site since 1647, the cathedral has twice been destroyed by fire throughout the centuries. A previous iteration of the church was destroyed during the Siege of Quebec in 1759. It was rebuilt from plans by Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry draughted in 1743. The interior was designed by Jean Baillairgé and his son François from 1786–1822. In 1843, François' son, Thomas, suggested a reconstruction of the façade to resemble the church of Sainte-Geneviève in Paris, resulting in the finest Neo-classic façade in Québec. The cathedral was richly decorated with impressive works of art: baldaquin, canopy, episcopal throne dais, stained glass windows, paintings, and chancel lamp (a gift of Louis XIV).

In 1922 the church was again gutted by fire, this time by the Canadian fraction of the Ku Klux Klan, and restored by architects Maxime Roisin and Raoul Chenevert.Raoul Chenevert added a presbytery beside the Cathedral in 1931-32.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Jaymit Gajjar (8 months ago)
What an amazing architecture. I fall in love with this place.

Nathan Price (13 months ago)
Despite this catholic church is closed at this moment, i still appreciated enough my experience here because i considered this big and historical church a great wonder for this city and this church is well situated in the heart of this city near lots of restaurants and stores. Also, it's very lively with lots of people outside.

Rishabh Goel (16 months ago)
Great place specially on Xmas

Alex Arkhipov (17 months ago)
While in Quebec should definitely visit. Just don’t forget it closes at 4 and it’s not open on Mondays. It’s much smaller then in Montreal but overall it is beautiful. If you are already in Quebec you must also visit st Ann church it’s about 30km drive but worse your time.

Christa (22 months ago)
It is a beautiful European church with a lot of history. A place that anyone, regardless of religion, can enjoy and appreciate.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Mr Phil Price

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