Montreal Things to Do Tips by nicolettart Top 5 Page for this destination

Notre Dame~Icon Painting Basilica Notre Dame Review

I am very drawn to icon paintings, I don't know why! I thought this one was especially beautiful. with it decorative frame and gold leaf.

Colors of Notre Dame

I thought this would give you an idea as to how colorful it is inside Notre Dame. The interior is very ornate with embellished columns and carvings.

Notre Dame~Feeding the Poor Basilica Notre Dame Review

The painting shows St. Marguerite d'Youville distributing bread to the poor. She founded the community of the Sisters of Charity (grey nuns) in 1747, and was canonized on December 9, 1990. The painting is by Maurice Dubois, an artist from Ile de Orleans.

Notre Dame~Pulpit Basilica Notre Dame Review

This is one of the most striking elements in Notre Dame~~the pulpit.With its spiraling staircase and wood carvings, it is located to the left of the aisle, upon entering the basilica.

Notre Dame~Tower Basilica Notre Dame Review

Notre Dame's two towers are called "Perseverance" and "Temperance". "Perseverance" holds one of the world's most famous bells, manufactured by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in England, it weighs 10,900 kilograms. It is known as the Jean-Baptiste Bell.

Maissonneuve Monument

This monument honors Chomedey de Maissoneuve (1612-1676), founding father of Montreal. Sculpted by Louis-Philippe Hebert, it was unveiled in 1895 and stands in Place d'Armes, across the street from Notre Dame.

Notre Dame~Entrance Fee Basilica Notre Dame Review

There is a fee to enter the basilca, surprisingly. I believe it was around 2 or 3 dollars. Next door is a gift shop where I picked up a booklet and a postcard. If you are interested in the interior of the basilica, I strongly recommend buying some postcards, as I found it difficult to take good (digital) pictures inside!

Notre Dame~Window with St. Anthony Basilica Notre Dame Review

The historical series of stained glass windows of the basilica were designed by Jean-Baptiste Lagace, an art history professor at the Universite de Montreal. They were produced in 1930 and and 1931 in Limoges, France, by the atelier of master glass artist Francis Chigot.

Notre Dame~Windows Basilica Notre Dame Review

For a hundred years, Notre Dame was without stained glass windows. For the church's centennial in 1929, Olivier Maurault, the parish priest, decided on the themes and characters fo be depicted in a series of 11 stained glass windows relating the main events in the religious history of Montreal, from the arrival of Jacques Cartier in 1535 to the opening of Notre dame in 1829.

Notre Dame~Crucifix Basilica Notre Dame Review

I am sorry some of these pictures are so dark!! It was very difficult to take a good picture inside the basilica. Although this one is not very good, I chose to include it here. This is a wooden sculpture of Christ on the cross, created in 1741. It is one of the major works by Montreal sculptor Paul Jourdain dit. Labrousse (1697-1769).