When Sandy and I were in Montreal, we visited a beautiful church, the Notre Dame Basilica. Gorgeous and gothic on the outside, it is huge, ornate and beautiful inside, filled with woodwork and carvings, lots of stained glass and a magnificent pipe organ. Here's what we saw:
Unfortunately, I didn't get far enough back to get a shot of the whole church (you can go to the link above and see a picture on Wikipedia). I took these photos with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2, which fits in my jacket pocket.
I love wandering around old cathedrals and churches. Hopefully I convinced you to visit this one if you find yourself in Montreal.
Wow, it's beautiful.
If you're ever in this neck of the woods I'll show you around the National Cathedral in Washington DC. It's quite remarkable and has some interesting gargoyles and a lovely bishop's garden that in the old days was the scene of much debauchery but is presently more of a place of pleasant reverie.
Even the Godless (tm) like myself can appreciate the serene beauty.
Posted by: Stryder | June 05, 2007 at 04:06 PM
Great pictures! It's hard to get the interiors, with little light.
Posted by: Juanita La Salle | June 05, 2007 at 05:03 PM
Those northern north americans have got it all over us southerners for design: that altar, the organ! Fabulous! The message is right: "Forget tradition; move on!"
Posted by: LC | June 05, 2007 at 10:04 PM
Hi, the altar with the carved wooden back is that the in the same church? Is it a side altar - looks completely different from the back lit blue altar piece...
Posted by: Kieran | September 04, 2007 at 07:21 AM
Indeed, the backlit altar is in the main church, the all-wood part is in the chapel behind the main church. It says (http://www.patrimoine-religieux.qc.ca/bndmtl/bndmtle.htm) that the former was not suitable for intimate marriages and ceremonies, so they built the chapel...so intimate that it holds up to 1000 people.
Posted by: riannan | September 04, 2007 at 07:44 PM