Notre-Dame-de-la-Visitation Church (Champlain, Quebec)

The church

Notre-Dame-de-la-Visitation (Our Lady of the Visitation) is a neo-Romanesque Catholic church on Chemin du Roy in Champlain, Mauricie, Quebec.

History

It was built in 1878-1879 by the Princeville architect and entrepreneur Gédéon Leblanc (1832-1905). It first service was held on 9 October 1879. It is 42 m (137 pieds) long by 20,4 m (67 pieds) wide and its vault is 16 m (52,5 pieds) high, whilst the bell towers are 53,6 m (143 pieds) high. Its exterior was inspired by Saint-Stanislas, parish church of the neighbouring parish. The interior was completed in 1881 to designs by the architect Jean-Baptiste Bourgeois, known as Louis-Joseph Bourgeois (1856-1930), then aged 25. This was totally covered in trompe-l’œil frescoes by François-Xavier-Édouard Meloche in 1882-1883, his first major work.

The parish was founded in 1664 and had three previous church buildings, whose fittings are now in the present church, including the oldest paintings in Quebec (dating to before 1687), the oldest wooden sanctuary lamp in Quebec (before 1687), the oldest sculpture (pre-1687), the oldest engraving (late 17th century) and works by major painters such as Claude François (1687), Noël-Nicolas Coypel (1714), William Berczy (1810), François Normand (1813) and Louis-Philippe Hébert (1882).

See also

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