Our hotel here in Montreal is on the periphery of Vieux-Montreal, the oldest quarter of the city. the old town area runs along the St. Lawrence River. The views of both the seaway and the cobble streets and old buildings are lovely. We spent a couple of hours in the Basilique Notre-Dame, to the wonder and delight of our children. They were surprised to find that a Canadian church could speak so clearly of a faith centuries older than the country itself.
We took a guided tour, which proved to be both inspirational and a cheap date.
While the original Notre-Dame was a chapel built in the 1600's, the present church was built between 1824 and 1829. The architect, an Irish Protestant by the name of James O'Donnell, eventually converted to Catholicism and is buried in the crypt at Notre Dame.
And, well, if King Saint Louis the IX doesn't keep cropping up. Turns out, the Sainte-Chapelle, in Paris, commissioned by the Good King himself was the inspiration for much of the interior decoration of Notre-Dame here in Montreal.
one of many sanctuary lamps in Notre-Dame
While Mass is generally only held on weekends and special occasions, as it seats 3,000, daily Masses are held in the chapel of the Sacred Heart. We attended the noon Mass there, King Louis behind us in a stained glass window.
Not much research went into our trip to Montreal, we were content with wandering about the old city, visiting Notre-Dame and St. Joseph's Oratory. But in our wanderings in the city, we happened across a treasure. As seems to be the trend in our trip so far, the guided tour was starting in five minutes. The oldest chapel in Montreal, which, just a few years ago, an archeological find was unearthed when the chapel tried to make more room in its cellar. I could go on for a very long time about this, but click here if that particular history interests you. Here lies the work of Marguerite Bourgeoys and her remains, from 1700, the year she died, lies to the side of the sanctuary of the church.
oldest chapel in Montreal
cute cafe
cute boy, cute fountain
cute girls, cute flower pots
cute husband
cute restaurant
Vieux-Montreal is tres cute. My family looked tres adorable walking about there. Here's proof.
We took a guided tour, which proved to be both inspirational and a cheap date.
While the original Notre-Dame was a chapel built in the 1600's, the present church was built between 1824 and 1829. The architect, an Irish Protestant by the name of James O'Donnell, eventually converted to Catholicism and is buried in the crypt at Notre Dame.
And, well, if King Saint Louis the IX doesn't keep cropping up. Turns out, the Sainte-Chapelle, in Paris, commissioned by the Good King himself was the inspiration for much of the interior decoration of Notre-Dame here in Montreal.
While Mass is generally only held on weekends and special occasions, as it seats 3,000, daily Masses are held in the chapel of the Sacred Heart. We attended the noon Mass there, King Louis behind us in a stained glass window.
Not much research went into our trip to Montreal, we were content with wandering about the old city, visiting Notre-Dame and St. Joseph's Oratory. But in our wanderings in the city, we happened across a treasure. As seems to be the trend in our trip so far, the guided tour was starting in five minutes. The oldest chapel in Montreal, which, just a few years ago, an archeological find was unearthed when the chapel tried to make more room in its cellar. I could go on for a very long time about this, but click here if that particular history interests you. Here lies the work of Marguerite Bourgeoys and her remains, from 1700, the year she died, lies to the side of the sanctuary of the church.
Vieux-Montreal is tres cute. My family looked tres adorable walking about there. Here's proof.
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