Montreal (part II) and Quebec churches

(More vacation pics. Fantastic photos are of Scott's Flickr collection. The shaking videos are from my iPhone (YouTube).)

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Oratoire Saint-Joseph du Mont-Royal
(aka Saint Joseph's Oratory)

This was my first time seeing this amazing hill top basilica. It was a great place to explore. We quietly watched a service held in the 1917 Crypt Church at the base of the building. The adjacent 1948 Votive Chapel and tomb of Brother André contained candles and crutches of those healed by Brother André. Our occupational therapist friend observed that apparently all the people healed seemed to have used the same size crutch. Coincidentally, Brother André was canonized as Saint Brother André just after our trip.

The 1967 Basilica is huge. Apparently, the dome is the third largest in the world and the church is the largest in Canada. We were warned by a native Montrealer that while the view and the church's exterior were beautiful, the interior was not so much. In contrast to the exterior, the interior is modernist/minimalist 60s. The interior style conflicts with the exterior.

The view from the hill top at sunset was terrific. It was a dark and a little windy so we didn't walk through the garden or the small chapel built by Brother André.

One of the strangest sights was seeing pilgrims climb 99 steps on their knees to the basilica. I don't mean disrespect, but it's sort of like riding an escalator next to someone struggling to climb stairs. It felt like we were cheating merely walking up the steps. (Although as an out-of-shape fatty, the stairs were plenty hard.)

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Université du Québec à Montréal's Judith-Jasmin Pavilion
(formerly Saint Jacques )

For a city that probably wouldn't miss losing a church building, it's great that this university kept this church's bell tower and ornate entrances.

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Notre-Dame de Québec Cathedral
(aka Our Lady of Quebec City)

During our one full day in Quebec City, we made sure to visit the Notre-Dame de Québec Cathedral in Old Quebec City. Yet another beautiful basilica.

I was a surprised to see large flat screen monitors lining some of the columns like a sports bar (or a tacky megachurch). Tammam pointed out that they were probably to allow those seated in the side aisles to see around the columns.

Montreal churches (part I)

[Photos by Scott (see blog)]

...This is the first time I was ever in a city where you couldn't throw a brick without breaking a church window... - often cited Mark Twain In Montreal

Ironically, a native Montrealer we met proudly touted that Montreal was one of the most non-religious cities in North America. Scott and I politely countered that Portland also known for being non-religious. I haven't been able to find comparable statistics. In 2009 Oregon was rank #1 US state in residents with no religious affiliation. Another study somewhere mentioned that Quebec was ranked the worst in Canada for church attendance. It is surprising considering the importance of Catholicism in Quebec's history and the overwhelming number of beautiful church architecture.

As someone who was raised in a fundamentalist (and very anti-Catholic) church that met in a rented gymnasium, the huge ornate churches in Montreal and Quebec are ostentatious and impressive. After first seeing these churches in 2000, I really wanted to attend high church services; however, no church building in Portland can really compare.

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Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal
(aka Notre-Dame Basilica)

Probably the most ornate sanctuary I've visited, it was the only church that charged a modest $5 tourist admission (no charge for pilgrims) -- which is well worth it. Tammam mentioned that Celine Dion had a wedding and baptism in this church.

Scott was upset that the square in front of the church was under construction.

The "chapel" behind the sanctuary is just as amazing. Apparently it was quickly rebuilt after a 1978 fire.

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Cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde
(aka Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral)

In any other city, this cathedral would be amazing. However, its architectural style pales compared to the other Montreal churches. It's scaled-down version of St. Peter's in Rome reminds me of a Las Vegas tourist attraction. It doesn't help that the building is dwarfed by the surrounding office towers.

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Christ Church Cathedral
(montrealcathedral.ca)

The only non-Catholic church we visited, Scott and I preferred this Anglican church's style and scale. It seemed much more approachable and friendly than the massive catholic churches. The rainbow flag in the sanctuary was a nice touch too.

Also, we learned that an underground mall was built under the cathedral which caused the cathedral to be nicknamed the Cathedral-on-stilts during construction.

Old Montréal

On October 4, Scott and I figured out how to take the Metro from Tammam's apartment to Old Montréal. We used an handy iPhone app from ArchiGuides.com to take a walking tour of 25 buildings.

We tried to cross the Champ-de-Mars (a.k.a. lawn), but like many places, it was under construction as more of the 1717 fortifications were uncovered. As we recorded below, we admired the beautiful 1856 Old Courthouse and 1878 City Hall (now under construction), but horrified how the 1971 "Palace" of Justice office tower was dropped next to the Old Courthouse. Even the guide books admitted the tower was an architectural mistake.

We walked through an upscale tourist trap, Bonsecours Market, and met a very friendly gallery owner. Although we were very careful not to touch any of the paintings, the gallery owner had Scott touch one of the more colorful souvenir paintings.

Jardin botanique de Montréal

We returned from our one-week visit with Tammam in Montreal and Quebec last night. The week seems like a blur. We are still sorting through our pictures and recalling our great trip.

Last Sunday was our first full day in Montreal. It was Scott's first time in Montreal and my second. Although I wanted to revisit some of the places I saw in 2000, I also wanted to see some new places like the Olympic Stadium area. So, I chose Jardin botanique de Montréal (a.k.a. Montreal Botanical Garden) as our first outing.

IMG_0029, originally uploaded by sweber4507.

IMG_9610, originally uploaded by sweber4507.

Like other former Olympic and world fair sites, I wrongly assumed the botanical garden was merely salvaged land re-purposed by the city after the 1976 Summer Olympics. However, I was surprised to learn that the botanical garden was started in 1931.

The gardens were beautiful. Even though Tammam and I are not gardening, we enjoyed the different gardens and arrangements. One hundred year-old bonsai plants in the Japanese garden were impressive, but the most eye-catching garden was the lantern display in the Chinese garden -- apparently an annual tradition.

For better or worse, it is nearly impossible to visit or photograph the Jardin botanique de Montréal without the alien Olympic Stadium tower.