Notre Dame de Quebec Cathedral

The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Quebec or the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Quebec is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Quebec. It is one of the oldest Catholic churches in Canada. It is also the parish church of the oldest county in North America, and the first church in this part of the world to receive basilica status from Pope Pius IX in 1874.

The very first church on the site of the current cathedral was built in 1647. What is common for medieval Catholic churches has repeatedly collapsed and changed its appearance and interior. Notre Dame de Quebec owes its interior to the French Jean Baillerge and his son François, they were engaged in it in 1786-1822. Later, in the middle of the XIX century, the son of François, Thomas, proposed to give the facade of the cathedral the features of the Parisian church of St. Genevieve. Thanks to this idea, the cathedral flaunts a neoclassical facade - one of the most beautiful in Quebec.

Inside the modern cathedral there are many works of art, it is richly decorated: wonderful stained glass windows, a canopy, a canopy, an episcopal throne, stained glass windows, paintings, and an altar lamp (a gift from Louis XIV). In the crypt of the cathedral lie the four governors of New France and the bishops of Quebec.

In 1966, the cathedral was declared a historical monument.