Notre-Dame Basilica | |
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French: Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal | |
The church building's exterior, 2012
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Coordinates: 45°30′16.15″N 73°33′22.55″W / 45.5044861°N 73.5562639°W | |
Location | 110, rue Notre-Dame Ouest Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Y 1T2 |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Website | Basilique Notre-Dame |
History | |
Dedication | Mary (mother of Jesus) |
Dedicated | July 1, 1829 |
Architecture | |
Status | Basilica |
Functional status | Active |
Architect(s) | James O'Donnell |
Style | Gothic |
Groundbreaking | 1823 |
Construction cost | £47,446 (1832) |
Specifications | |
Length | 79 metres (259 ft) |
Width | 46 metres (151 ft) |
Height | 60 metres (200 ft) |
Materials | Stone, which came from the Tanneries quarry in Griffintown |
Administration | |
Archdiocese | Montreal |
Official name | Notre-Dame Roman Catholic Church / Basilica National Historic Site of Canada |
Designated | 1989 |
Notre-Dame Basilica (French: Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal) is a basilica in the historic district of Old Montreal, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The church is located at 110 Notre-Dame Street West, at the corner of Saint Sulpice Street. It is located next to the Saint-Sulpice Seminary and faces the Place d'Armes square.
Built in the Gothic Revival style, the church is highly decorated. The vaults are coloured deep blue and decorated with golden stars, and the rest of the sanctuary is decorated in blues, azures, reds, purples, silver, and gold. It is filled with hundreds of intricate wooden carvings and several religious statues. Unusual for a church, the stained glass windows along the walls of the sanctuary do not depict biblical scenes, but rather scenes from the religious history of Montreal. It also has a Casavant Frères pipe organ, dated 1891, which comprises four keyboards, 92 stops using electropneumatic action and an adjustable combination system, 7000 individual pipes and a pedal board.
In 1657, the Roman Catholic Sulpician syndicate arrived in Ville-Marie, now known as Montreal; six years later the seigneury of the island was vested in them. They ruled until 1840. The parish they founded was dedicated to the Holy Name of Mary, and the parish church of Notre-Dame was built on the site in 1672.