Basilica Holy-Anne-of-Bowsprit

The Basilique Holy-Anne-of-Bowsprit is a catholic church located at Holy-Anne-of-Bowsprit in the province of the Quebec. It is an important place of pilgrimage close to Quebec. The principal gathering is that of July 26th, celebrates Sainte Anne, civil and ecclesiastical owner of Quebec, and culminating point of the Neuvaine.

History

In 1658, Etienne Lessard, one of the first colonists, concede certain grounds for the construction of the first wood vault dedicated to Sainte Anne, particularly venerated in News-France. During construction, a cure of a workman has place, that of Louis Guimont, attested by the abbot Thomas Morel. It is the first of many testimonys.

Too built close to the river, the vault is damaged by the tides and is rebuilt in 1661 a little more in the east, with the foot of the coast, the current site of the old cemetery. After 15 years of use, this new building of Colombage pierroté survives badly rigors of the climate and is replaced, in 1676, by a stone church. Increased and renovated on several occasions, it accommodates thousands of pilgrims during nearly two centuries.

Threatened of ruin, it is demolished in 1876 and its materials are recovered in order to build the current vault commemorative set up in 1878 on the transept of the original church. It is about the one of the first efforts of conservation of the inheritance built in Quebec.

The old church is replaced officially by a new spatieuse church set up in the south of this one starting from 1872 pennies the impulse of the priest Gauvreau, last secular priest residing. The building work will be carried out by the Pampalon contractor of Lévis, father of worthy the Alfred Pampalon, one of the first Canadian redemptorists. Since 1877, the cardinal Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau orders with the Rédemptoristes Baltimore, and then of Belgium, to take in hand the sanctuary whose popularity does not cease growing since the arrival of the railroad in 1881. This church will be officially devoted in 1878 and will receive from the Pope Leon XIII, the title of minor Basilique in 1886, the second catholic temple in the north of Mexico to carry this title (the cathedral of Quebec having received it since 1874).

In 1891, the redemptorists set up a new monastery as well as Scala Sancta, a wood counterpart of the holy staircase preserved at Rome. Moreover, in 1896, the Seminar Saint-Alphonse opens his doors.

The basilica, increased and completed under the direction of the father Was useful Paquay, redemptorist, will be destroyed by a fire on March 29th, 1922. Fire will be preserved the colossal statue of wood representing holy Anne who throne at the top of the frontage. Work of Matthias Zens, sculptor Belgian of Gantese origin, it will be reinstalled with a similar position on the new building.

The construction of the current basilica begins as of 1923 pennies the initial impulse from the architect Maxime Roisin from Paris which proposes, in the tradition Art schools, a monument of style néo-novel with Gothic proportions. In its work, it will be assisted by the architect Louis-Napoleon Audet de Sherbrooke who will supervise construction and will adapt the plans to the North-American context. The carcass work heavy castings will be finished in 1962 by the completion of the arrows surmounting the belfries while the basilica will be officially devoted in 1976 by the cardinal Maurice Roy. The building remains however unfinished as the many empty niches and cornices testify some not carved.

The basilica

Current the Basilica of Romance style date of 1923. It was inaugurated officially in 1976. It counts among its treasures of the sacred vessels of the XVIIIe centuries engraved by various artists, of which François Ranvoyzé and Laurent Amyot, and an important collection of Ex-voto. The commemorative Vault, built in 1878, contains several works recovered during the demolition of the old church, in particular the Clocher, which was rebuilt in 1788.

Artists implied in the rebuilding

Frank Moroder (Italian); wood-carver (benches and steles)
Walter Del Mistro; mosaïste (floors and vaults of the crypt)
Auguste Labouret (French); mosaïste and glassmaker (vaults of the basilica and stained glasses)
Mr. Gaudin (French); mosaïste (vaults of the basilica)
Brownish Emile (Canadian); sculptor
Maurice Lord (Canadian); sculptor
Albert Gilles (French); goldsmith (ciborium and doors)
Frederic (Canadian); goldsmith (northern transept of the crypt)
Marius Dubois (Canadian); painter (arcades of the crypt)

Principal dimensions

overall length: 105 m
width in frontage: 48 m
width of the transept: 61 m
height of the arrows: 91 m

References

Samuel Baillargeon, Your visit with the sanctuary . Quebec: Dugal and Charrier, 1978.

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