Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral was started in 1870 and fully constructed in 1894. The cathedral is an one- fifth scale scale model of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. At the time, it was built it was the largest church in the Province of Quebec.
On a prior trip, I had snapped photos of a reflection of the church while leaving Montreal. Montreal has some of the greatest architecture in the world but because those buildings are part of everyday life for residents, to me, it always seems no one is paying much attention to them.
It is an ornate Renaissance cathedral built in the shape of a Latin cross. If you look up, you’ll see statues of patron saints of Montreal thirteen parishes. All the statues were built Olindo Gratton between 1892 and 1898.
Photo by Montréalais [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I…e-reine-du-monde.jpg]
The interior is beautiful. Unfortunately I must of deleted my interior shots. Another excuse for a return visit! A lot of the church tells the history of the church in the city. Paintings by Georges Delfosse depict the beginnings of Montreal.
In 1919, Pope Benedict XV conferred the title of Minor Basilica on Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur Cathedral. The church was rededicated by Pope Pius XII in 1955 and renamed Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral.
