The Great Canadian churches thread

[Martin Mtl]

Sanctuaire du Saint-Sacrament - circa 1892 - Le Plateau, Montréal.


https://www.instagram.com/p/ByG1DIRJ-sv/


https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba9WHZ9FvNM/

[stevanford1]

^ Truly beautiful

[vid]

I've uploaded the first of my photos from a trip to Southern Ontario in May, starting with Guelph and its Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception:



More photos here.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by vid

I've uploaded the first of my photos from a trip to Southern Ontario in May, starting with Guelph and its Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception:



More photos here.

Did you get inside? It underwent extensive renovations a few years back.

[vid]

No, I was in Guelph for a training course and pressed for time. I took photos on the evening I arrived in town and the next morning, but otherwise the weather wasn't very good. I also had to stay in multiple different hotels due to a conference going on that filled all the local hotels, which is why I was in Cambridge and Kitchener for a couple days.

The church's website had a pretty good virtual tour: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=1eiHjAAsUXE

[Acajack]

In Quebec City, the city has been fighting with a developer for quite some time over the future of this church. It's right on Grande-Allée at the start of the touristy area. The church is in bad shape and is structurally unsound. The developer wants to demolish it and put up condos. The city has been saying no for a couple of years IIRC, but now has agreed to allow the demolition - provided that the façade is preserved.

https://www.google.com/maps/@46.8052...7i13312!8i6656

[esquire]

^ That is a really beautiful looking block, I like the church itself as well as the office building next to it. The setback is pretty dramatic.

It would be nice to save the church itself but when it comes to preservation, it would be nearly impossible to save them all. Sometimes facadism is the best that can be done, although personally I'm not a fan of that technique.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Acajack

In Quebec City, the city has been fighting with a developer for quite some time over the future of this church. It's right on Grande-Allée at the start of the touristy area. The church is in bad shape and is structurally unsound. The developer wants to demolish it and put up condos. The city has been saying no for a couple of years IIRC, but now has agreed to allow the demolition - provided that the façade is preserved.

https://www.google.com/maps/@46.8052...7i13312!8i6656

Wow... that is truly a shame. While Old Quebec has an abundance of beautiful historic structures, and maybe that's the rationale being used to allow the demolition (a guess), but man, what a unique and attractive building. Demolition and even facadism of this structure would constitute a loss in my eyes...

Are there any photos on the net of the interior of the church? If it's anywhere close to how it looks on the outside... wow.

[Martin Mtl]

Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes de Montréal (circa 1881)



https://www.instagram.com/p/BsBNA-NlFhp/


https://www.instagram.com/p/Brkyu4tFmIT/


https://www.instagram.com/p/BuHIIHBnf4j/


https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt6P-kIg-Ir/


https://www.instagram.com/p/By_i0Y2nKQa/


https://www.instagram.com/p/Byx8PzzivuQ/

[_Citizen_Dane_]

Since the only post ever dedicated to Edmonton’s churches is over three years old, I thought I’d revive this thread with an in-depth look at some of the city’s more notable places of worship. Perhaps in large part due to Edmonton’s various boom periods, and a heavy immigrant population we’ve been blessed with an amazing collection of churches for a city of our size.

St. Joseph’s Catholic Basilica
Constructed; 1924/1963
Architects; Edward Underwood (1924), Henri LaBelle of Montreal w/ Eugene Olesky (1963)

St. Joseph’s Cathedral spent 39 years of its existence as a crypt, as the congregation was unable to come up with the funds to complete the upper sanctuary. Coupled with the Great Depression and Second World War, the “basement church” wouldn't be fully completed until 1963.










Holy Trinity Anglican
Constructed; 1906/1914
Architects; Arthur & Henry Whiddington
Designation; Provincial Historic Resource

Holy Trinity stands as perhaps one of Edmonton’s most unique looking churches due to its heavy use of clinker brick. Clinkers are irregular and imperfect bricks caused by overheating during the baking process. They often come out lumpy, but display brilliant hues of red, purple and yellow. They gained a lot of popularity in Edmonton for their rustic Arts and Crafts-esque appearance.






First Presbyterian
Constructed; 1911
Architects; Wilson & Harold
Designation; Provincial & Municipal Historic Resource

First Presbyterian is Edmonton’s grandest pre-war church. With a seating capacity of 1,200, it proved to be the city’s largest place of worship upon its completion. This came at a cost however. The congregation initially expected to spend $85,000; instead its total cost ballooned to over $172,000






McDougall United
Constructed; 1909
Architects; Herbert Alton Magoon
Designation; Provincial & Municipal Historic Resource

McDougall United, originally a Methodist church, is one of Edmonton’s and Alberta's oldest congregations, having been founded in 1871. Their modest home nearly fell to the wreckers ball three years ago; fortunately government intervention saved it.






St. Joachim French Catholic
Constructed; 1899
Architect; Francis X. Deggendorfer
Designation; Provincial & Municipal Historic Resource

St. Joachim’s, having been built for the Quebec-based Oblates of Mary Immaculate, takes heavy inspiration from Quebecois churches for its design. The congregation is believed to be the oldest Roman Catholic group in Alberta, having been founded in the mid-1850’s at Fort Edmonton.




Knox Presbyterian Church
Constructed; 1907
Architects; Magoon, James & Hopkins
Designation Provincial & Municipal Historic Resource

This church was built upon a plot of land graciously donated by the Calgary & Edmonton Railway. Unfortunately this meant that its masses were frequently interrupted by the rumbling of passing trains, and the whistles of steam locomotives.


Robertson-Wesley United
Constructed; 1912
Architect; David Suttie McIlroy of Calgary
Designation; Municipal Historic Resource

The history of this church’s design is particularly interesting. The congregation, unable to meet the financing goal for their own preferred design, had to end up purchasing McIlroy's design for Calgary's First Baptist Church.


St. Josaphat’s Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral
Constructed; 1939-1948
Architect; Philip Ruh
Designation; Municipal Historic Resource

This particular church has an interior decorated wall to wall with beautiful frescos. Somewhat infamously, one of them depicted Hitler, Lenin and Stalin burning in the fires of Hell.


Sacred Heart Catholic
Constructed; 1914
Architects; Hardie & Martland
Designation; None

Sacred Heart, among Edmonton’s most opulent pre-war churches, stood as one of the city’s tallest buildings for a number of decades. Its tower and spire, seemingly reaching to the heavens itself, stands at 40 meters.


Ansgar Danish Lutheran
Constructed; 1943
Architects; Holm Moller of Copenhagen w/ William Blakey
Designation; None

The Ansgar Church was designed by Copenhagen architect Holm Miller. Despite being based out of Nazi-occupied Denmark, his architectural plans still somehow made it to Edmonton.

[Renn]

Originally Posted by RueBulmer

Was it Mark Twain who described Montreal as a city where one couldn't throw a brick without hitting a church window?

How things have changed, reversed.

And now some of them are condos. Didn't that start in the 80s?

Same thing is happening in Toronto bunch of churches like this have become condos. I think there are a couple dozen now. See them on blogto condo of the week all the time,



https://truelofts.ca/slate-image/pro...-1920-2000.jpg

[Airboy]

There are a few interesting churches in town

Holy Rosary Church (Polish from 1911) Don't remember when the current church was built but it was over 60 years ago. I was baptised in it some many years ago.

Also the Al Rashid Mosque. The original building is now in Ft Edmonton Park was the first Mosque in Canada and only the 3rd in NA. When it was first built funding came from most other city congregations, Jewish and Christian denominations.


If I can find time this weekend, I will get a few more shots, even one of the more interesting ones, The Serbian Orthodox Church. The Father Lacombe Chapel in St Albert, the oldest standing building in Alberta 1861.

one of the earliest Parishes though was in Ft Chip when the Northwest Company built a Trading post there in 1788.

[kwoldtimer]

Re Knox Presbyterian in Edmonton (#430). The rumbling of passing trains and the whistles of steam locomotives did not interupt their "masses". I promise you.

[TorontoDrew]

This church needs a good scrub but I've always been curious what the inside looked like. It's pretty damn unique. I never even noticed the roof was circular.

Jarvis Street Baptist Church built 1875

Jarvis Street Baptist Church .... Toronto, Ontario, Canada by Greg's Southern Ontario (catching Up Slowly), on Flickr

Jarvis Street Baptist Church / Ceiling Stained Glass Dome .... Toronto, Ontario by Greg's Southern Ontario (catching Up Slowly), on Flickr

Jarvis Street Baptist Church / Interior .... Toronto, Ontario, Canada by Greg's Southern Ontario (catching Up Slowly), on Flickr

Jarvis Street Baptist Church / Interior .... Toronto, Ontario, Canada by Greg's Southern Ontario (catching Up Slowly), on Flickr

Jarvis Street Baptist Church / Interior .... Toronto, Ontario, Canada by Greg's Southern Ontario (catching Up Slowly), on Flickr

1910 source: https://static.torontopubliclibrary.c

[Laceoflight]

^
This is a truly gorgeous church, with an unusual plan.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Laceoflight

^
This is a truly gorgeous church, with an unusual plan.

The plan is quite normal for a Reformed church, but I have never seen anything like that oculous in a church of that sort. Gorgeous!

[Laceoflight]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

The plan is quite normal for a Reformed church, but I have never seen anything like that oculous in a church of that sort. Gorgeous!

So let's put it this way : it is quite normal for your frame of reference, not mine, which is Québec, and where I doubt we could find many churches with this kind of plan.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Re Knox Presbyterian in Edmonton (#430). The rumbling of passing trains and the whistles of steam locomotives did not interupt their "masses". I promise you.

It’s weird how quickly consciousness of the basic doctrinal differences between denominations has disappeared. Future generations of Millennial scholars will argue about just why it was that the Methodists were unable to afford the same colourful artwork and Virgin Mary sculptures in their churches as the Catholics had.

[kwoldtimer]

[QUOTE=Andy6;8648304]It’s weird how quickly consciousness of the basic doctrinal differences between denominations has disappeared. Future generations of Millennial scholars will argue about just why it was that the Methodists were unable to afford the same colourful artwork and Virgin Mary sculptures in their churches as the Catholics had.[/QUOTE]

Only if they manage to misplace the last 500 years of ecclesiastical history (my dog ate it?).

[Andy6]

[QUOTE=kwoldtimer;8648551]

Originally Posted by Andy6

It’s weird how quickly consciousness of the basic doctrinal differences between denominations has disappeared. Future generations of Millennial scholars will argue about just why it was that the Methodists were unable to afford the same colourful artwork and Virgin Mary sculptures in their churches as the Catholics had.[/QUOTE]

Only if they manage to misplace the last 500 years of ecclesiastical history (my dog ate it?).

A lot of that was written in "cursive", though, so they can't read it. And even the printed parts have no pictures or call-out boxes ... a lot of the pages have more than 25 words on them!