Notre-Dame de Quebec - Mother Church of New France
Photo: Tony Webster from Portland, Oregon, United States, CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
A stop on Old Quebec City Walking Tour, a free self-guided tour.
In front of you is the oldest parish church in Canada and the seat of the Archbishop of Quebec. Champlain built a chapel near here in 1633, and work on the first stone church began in 1647. When the Diocese of Quebec was created, its bishop's territory covered most of French North America, so this was once the cathedral for a vast swath of the continent.
The building you see has been rebuilt more than once. British cannon fire from across the river burned it during the 1759 siege, and the Baillairge family of architects led the long reconstruction. A fire gutted it again in 1922, and it was restored in the years that followed.
Below the floor lie four governors of New France, including the Comte de Frontenac, and the bishops of Quebec. Bishop Francois de Laval, the first, has his own funeral chapel. Step inside if it's open to see the gilded canopy over the altar.
Getting here: Walk to the north end of Rue du Tresor; the basilica stands right in front of you across Rue de Buade.
Did you know?: In 1874 it became the first church in North America raised to the rank of minor basilica by the Pope.
Photo op: Step back into the small square of the Hotel de Ville across the street to fit the full facade and bell tower in one frame.
More on Wikipedia: Cathedral Basilica of Notre-Dame de Quebec · Francois de Laval · Louis de Buade de Frontenac
Stops on this tour
- Dufferin Terrace - A Boardwalk on the Cliff
- Rue du Tresor - The Artists' Alley
- Notre-Dame de Quebec - Mother Church of New France
- Seminaire de Quebec - Where a University Began
- Breakneck Stairs - The Steep Way Down
- Place Royale - Where Quebec Began
- Quartier Petit Champlain - Shops Beneath the Cliff
- Old Quebec Funicular - The Easy Way Up
- Governors' Garden - One Monument, Two Generals
- The Citadelle - Star Fort on Cap Diamant
- Plains of Abraham - Thirty Minutes That Changed a Continent
- Parliament Building - Je Me Souviens
- Porte Saint-Louis - Gateway Through the Walls