Montreal's Mother Church

 The Notre-Dame Basilica is Montréal’s mother church and was the first Gothic Revival style church in Canada. Its history has been marked by the Sulpicians since its foundation and is inseparable from that of Montréal. It speaks to its Catholic roots and the eternal link between art and religion. The Basilica’s style was imitated by several parishes and marked a turning point in religious architectural tradition.

In addition to being a place for prayer and celebration of Catholic worship, Notre-Dame is also a place for important national events like state funerals.

In 1982, Notre-Dame, at the time being a cathedral, was raised to the rank of minor basilica by Pope John Paul II and designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1989. 

In 1823, La Fabrique de la paroisse Notre-Dame formed a fifteen-member construction committee in charge of organizing fundraisers and selecting an architect to design a church that could accommodate 8,000 worshippers and be the most beautiful in North America. To do this, they chose a New York Protestant architect, James O'Donnell (1774-1830).

O'Donnell was inspired by the Gothic Revival style that was then flourishing in Europe and the United States. The architecture of the new Notre-Dame Church is inspired by the two towers of Notre-Dame de Paris and the Church of Saint-Sulpice. O’Donnell’s work became the first church in the Gothic Revival style in Canada and, until St. Patrick’s Cathedral was built in 1879 in New York, was the largest place of worship in North America of any religion.

As early as 1856, La Fabrique Notre-Dame asked for a review of the plans. Under the direction of Montréal architect Victor Bourgeau (1809-1888) the interior decorations were done from 1872 to 1875 and from 1879 to 1880. The last work produced under Bourgeau before his death in 1888 was the Chaire de Vérité [The Pulpit of Truth],one of the most striking decorative elements in the church. Louis-Philippe Hébert (1850-1917) created the wood carvings that adorn it based on the plans of sculptor Henri Bouriché (1826-1906) that Bourgeau had adapted.

Notre-Dame took root in what we now call Old Montréal and was part of the biggest events in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Pope John Paul II raised Notre-Dame Church to the rank of minor basilica on April 21, 1982. This was an opportunity to recognize the religious, historical and artistic significance of the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal, a treasure of Quebec's heritage.

Given its significance, Notre-Dame was designated as a national historic site by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada in 1989.

Since its founding, the Basilica has been the site of major religious and cultural events.

Since 1918, the annual festivities to commemorate the city’s founding have been celebrated here, under the aegis of the Société historique de Montréal. 

 Several significant funerals were held there, including those of Sir Georges Étienne Cartier, Pierre-Elliot Trudeau, Maurice Richard, Charles Daudelin, Bernard Landry, and 9 out of the 14 victims of the École Polytechnique femicide.

Pope John Paul II celebrated a Mass for children here on September 11, 1984.

Céline Dion and René Angélil got married here on December 17, 1994.

Its religious, historical and artistic importance makes it a treasure of Quebec’s heritage and one of the most visited sites in Montréal.

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