Architecture sights in Canada
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Basilique Notre-Dame
The grand dame of Montréal’s ecclesiastical treasures, this basilica is a must-see when exploring the city. The looming neo-Gothic church can hold up to 3000 worshippers and houses a collection of finely crafted artworks, including an elaborately carved altarpiece, vibrant stained-glass windows and an intricate pulpit. The Sulpicians had an ever-growing congregation and no one in the soon-to-be Canadian colonies schooled in neo-Gothic architecture. So they commissioned James O’Donnell, a New York architect and Irish Protestant, to design what would be the largest church north of Mexico. Such was O’Donnell’s dedication to the project that he converted to Catholicism so he…
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Basilique Nôtre Dame
Montréal's famous landmark, Notre-Dame Basilica, is a visually pleasing if slightly gaudy symphony of carved wood, paintings, gilded sculptures and stained glass windows. Built in 1829 on the site of an older and smaller church, it also sports a famous Casavant organ and the Gros Bourdon, said to be the biggest bell in North America.
The interior looks especially impressive during an otherwise overly melodramatic sound and light show staged from Tuesday to Saturday nights.
The basilica made headlines in 1994 when singer Céline Dion got married under its soaring midnight-blue ceiling, and again in 2000 when Jimmy Carter and Fidel Castro shared pall-bearing honours at the …
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Christ Church Cathedral
Completed in 1895 and designated as a cathedral in 1929, the city’s most attractive Gothic-style church is nestled incongruously among looming glass towers. Undergoing extensive renovations in recent years, it’s a busy site and is home to a wide range of cultural events, including regular choir and chamber music recitals and the occasional Shakespeare reading. Self-guided tours of the 32 stained-glass windows are available, but if you’re short of time just head down to the basement for the highlight: a colorful Edward Burne-Jones beauty created by the William Morris Company. Also check out the church’s dramatic hammerbeam ceiling as well as its newest window: the stunning…
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Steam Clock
Halfway along Water St, this oddly popular tourist magnet lures the cameras with its tooting steam whistle displays. Built in 1977, the clock’s mechanism is actually driven by electricity while only the pipes on top are fueled by steam (this might cause a riot if you reveal it to the patiently-waiting tourists). It sounds off every 15 minutes but marks each hour with a little whistling symphony. Once you have the required photo, spend time exploring the rest of cobbled Water St. One of Vancouver’s most historic thoroughfares, its well-preserved heritage buildings house shops, galleries and resto-bars: cast your gaze above entrance level and check out some cool old-schoo…
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Three Courthouses
Along the north side of Rue Notre-Dame Est near Pl Jacques-Cartier, three courthouses stand bunched together. The most fetching is the neoclassical Vieux Palais de Justice, Montréal’s old justice palace and oldest courthouse (1856) that’s now an annex of the Hôtel de Ville. It’s a popular backdrop for wedding photos. The Édifice Ernest Cormier from the 1920s was used for criminal trials before being turned into a conservatory and later a court of appeal. The ugly stepsister is the oversized Palais de Justice, built in 1971 when concrete and smoked glass were all the rage.
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Bank of Montréal
Modeled after the Pantheon in Rome, the grand colonnaded edifice of Canada’s oldest chartered bank, built in 1847, dominates the north side of Place-d’Armes and is still a working bank. The imposing interior has 32 marble columns and a coffered 20m ceiling in Italian Renaissance style over a long row of tellers behind glass partitions. The helmeted marble lady is Patria, representing a minor Roman god of patriotism to honor the war dead. A snoozy money museum inside the bank has a replica of a cashier’s window, old banknotes and an account of early banking in Canada.
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St Patrick’s Basilica
Built for Montréal’s booming Irish population in 1847, the interior of St Patrick’s Basilica contains huge columns from single pine trunks, an ornate baptismal font and nectar-colored stained-glass windows. The pope raised its status to basilica in 1989, in recognition of its importance to English-speaking Catholics in Montréal. It’s a sterling example of French-Gothic style and, as you might expect, is classified a national monument. The Irish-Canadian patriot D’Arcy McGee was buried here after his assassination in 1868; his pew (number 240) is marked with a small Canadian flag.
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Windsor Hotel
The palatial Windsor was Canada’s first grand hotel (1878) and played host to all manner of international guests and celebrities, including Mark Twain, Winston Churchill, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II and John F Kennedy. The original Windsor had six restaurants and 382 sumptuous guest rooms, but a fire that devastated the hotel in 1957 left only the annex – the portion still standing today. You can stroll down the magnificent main hall, Peacock Alley, and peek at the vast wooden dance floors, chandeliers and high windows that recall turn-of-the-century splendor.
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Gare Windsor
The massive Victorian building hugging the slope west of the Marriott Château Champlain is the old Windsor Station, opened in 1889 as the headquarters of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Romanesque structure inspired a château style for train stations across the country; its architect, Bruce Price, would later build the remarkable Château Frontenac in Québec City. The station is no longer the terminus of the transcontinental railway but still serves commuter trains. Much of the building today houses offices and shops.
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Palais des Congrès
Entering the hall of this convention center with its facade of popsicle-colored panes is akin to strolling through a kaleidoscope. Day brings out the colors, night the transparency. The cutting-edge Palais integrates several historic buildings: a 1908 fire station, the art-deco Tramways building from 1928 and a Victorian-era office complex. Immediately east of the Palais lies a landscape garden with stone pathways linking 31 heaps of earth, each topped off with Montréal’s official tree, the crab apple.
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Flatiron (Gooderham) Building
Originally the headquarters of the Gooderham family's distillery in the 1890s, the redbrick Flatiron is famous for its wacky triangular floorplan, dictated by the angle at which Old York's grid system intersects the waterfront. An exterior trompe l'oeil mural by Derek Besant mimics the restored 19th-century warehouses with their cast-iron facades across Front St. Inside are private offices, so unless you're in town for the Doors Open Toronto festival you'll have to make do with an exterior viewing.
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Father Pandosy Settlement
The Father Pandosy Settlement is Kelowna's major historical site. Granted it only dates to 1859, but this is where the good father enthusiastically planted his seed (among other places) and built a mission. The church, school, barn, one house and a few sheds from what was the first white settlement in the Okanagan have been restored. The site is small, well away from the center of town and rather serene.
To get there, go south along Lakeshore Rd, then east on Casorso Rd to Benvoulin Rd.
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Maison Alcan
This mélange of four carefully restored 19th- and 20th-century buildings is not only an architectural wonder, but also the symbolic headquarters of the Alcan aluminum concern. It integrates the old Berkeley Hotel and four houses, including the Atholstan House, a Québec historic monument. To the rear is an intriguing atrium with a pretty garden. Also on the property stands the Emmanuel Congregation Church, which belongs to the Salvation Army.
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Le Château
This fortress-like apartment complex was designed by the famed Montréal architects George Ross and Robert MacDonald. The style would do Errol Flynn proud: Scottish and French Renaissance with stone battlements, demons and pavilion roofs. In the early 20th century these were some of Montréal’s most elegant apartments. You can walk into the romantic courtyard for a closer look at the walls; fossilized shells are visible in the granite blocks.
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York Factory National Historic Site
Even more remote, 250km southeast of Churchill, the HBC trading post, the York Factory National Historic Site, near Hayes River, was an important gateway to the interior and active for 273 years until 1957. The stark-white buildings are an amazing sight contrasting with their seemingly middle-of-nowhere setting. York Factory is accessible only by air, boat or (for the very determined and experienced) canoe.
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St Paul's Anglican Church
The historic and illuminating St Paul's Anglican Church is about 100 times more beautiful on the inside than the outside. The stained-glass windows seen in afternoon light are simply breathtaking. Behind the church is Thanadelthur's Cairn, a small tribute to a Chipewyan woman who helped HBC arrange a treaty between her tribe and the rival Cree, allowing the fort to be built in Churchill.
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Cours le Royer
Montréal’s first hospital was founded on this narrow lane by Jeanne Mance in 1644. Later on, a huge commercial complex was built here, leaving several beautiful 19th-century warehouses behind. The buildings caught the eyes of developers in the 1970s and were converted into apartments and offices. Today, the buildings line this quiet pedestrian mall pocked with lush greenery.
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Old City Hall
Across Bay St is the 1899-built Old City Hall, the definitive work of Toronto architect EJ Lennox, the same fellow who built Casa Loma. Now housing legal courtrooms, the hall has an off-center bell tower, interesting murals and grimacing gargoyles. The website also has an online tour, which is handy to visit before your actual visit.
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Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes
Now hidden among the university buildings, this Romanesque gem was built by the Sulpicians in 1876 to cement their influence in Montréal. The chapel was designed by Rue St-Denis resident, artist Napoléon Bourassa, whose frescoes dotted about the interior are regarded as his crowning glory.
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Beaconsfield House
With its crowning belvedere, intricate gingerbread trim and elegant 19th-century furnishings, Beaconsfield House is the finest Victorian mansion in Charlottetown. Have a wander or sit on the veranda and be stunned by the view. Hours vary September to June.
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Centre Block
The primary building in Parliament Hill, Centre Block , supports the iconic Peace Tower, the highest structure in the city. Venture inside to peruse the hand-carved limestone and make a stop at the gorgeous library with its wood and wrought iron.
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St Dunstan's Basilica
Rising from the ashes of a 1913 fire, the three towering stone spires of the neo-Gothic St Dunstan's Basilica are now a Charlottetown landmark. The marble floors, Italian carvings and decoratively embossed ribbed ceiling are surprisingly ornate.
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