"The Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Quebec is the primatial church of Canada and the seat of the Archdiocese of Quebec. It is located in the historic district of Old Quebec in Quebec, adjacent to the Seminary of Quebec, opposite Quebec City Hall and bordered by rue De Buade. It was classified as a historic monument in 1966.
Notre-Dame de Québec is the oldest diocesan seat in America north of Mexico. It is also the church of the oldest parish in North America. It was the first church to be elevated to the rank of minor basilica by Pope Pius IX on August 28, 1874.
It is the second largest church in Quebec after the Saint-Roch church, but the Saint-Jean Baptiste church and the church of the Saints-Martyrs Canadiens which are larger than the basilica had to close their doors.
History
17th - 19th centuries
The first construction on the current location of the cathedral dates from 1647 under the name of Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix church, the first mass was celebrated there in 1650. In 1664 the Notre-Dame-de parish was established -the Immaculate Conception.
After the creation of the diocese of Quebec (then covering all of New France) in 1674, the embellishment of the church which became a cathedral was carried out according to the plans of the architect Claude Baillif (1635-1698) at the time of the Bishop François de Montmorency-Laval. A further expansion was then carried out under the direction of Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry from 1744 to 1749.
The cathedral was then destroyed twice. It was first ravaged by the bombardment of the British during the siege of Quebec in 1759 and was rebuilt from 1766 according to the plans of Chaussegros de Léry while extending the sanctuary. The bell tower, to which a second lantern was added, was rebuilt by Jean Baillairgé around 1771. Jean and his son François Baillairgé created the interior elements from 1787 to 1793: altarpieces, baldachin, statues and the bishop's throne. The main altar (1797) and the work bench (1799) were made by François.
The main facade was redone in 1843-1844 based on plans by the architect Thomas Baillairgé, son of François, presented in 1829. In neo-classical style, it however remained unfinished; of the two towers planned, only the north tower was built, but its bell tower was lost due to the weakness of the foundations. A major restoration was carried out from 1920 to 1922 by the architects Georges-Émile Tanguay and Raoul Chênevert.
20 - 21st centuries
However, on December 22, 1922 the church was again devastated by fire. Only the masonry remains. The restoration and construction of the current church began in 1923 based on original plans and old photographs, under the direction of Chênevert and the architect Maxime Roisin. The work was completed in 1930. The crypt was built in 1959 by the architect André Gilbert. The graves of most of the bishops of Quebec and four governors of New France are gathered there.
The cathedral basilica was classified as a Historic Monument on June 23, 1966. It was designated a national historic site of Canada on January 1, 1989.
In 2014, this place received a Holy Door, the first outside of Europe, in honor of the 350th anniversary of the Notre-Dame parish of Quebec.
The interior resembles that of the Notre-Dame-des-Victoires basilica in Paris."