Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal

The parish of Notre-Dame was founded in 1657 by the Sulpician priests who ran the young colony of Ville-Marie, which became Montreal. By the 1820s its old church was far too small, and the Sulpicians commissioned a new one from James O’Donnell, an Irish-American Protestant architect from New York. It was the largest church in North America when it opened in 1829. O’Donnell became a Catholic before he died, and he is the only person buried in the church.

The plain exterior hides a breathtaking interior, designed in the 1870s by Victor Bourgeau. The vault is painted deep blue and studded with golden stars. The sanctuary and the pulpit are carved in wood and gilded, and the windows show scenes from the religious history of Montreal. A Casavant organ of 1891 fills the gallery.

Pope Saint John Paul II made it a minor basilica in 1982. It remains a working parish church and one of the most visited sites in Canada.

Built

1824–1829; interior 1870s

Style

Gothic Revival

Where

Montreal, Canada

Map

Find it on OpenStreetMap