Saint-Jacques Cathedral (Montreal)

Saint -Jacques de Montréal was a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Montreal and the seat of the diocese of Montreal. It was inaugurated in 1825 and 1852 destroyed by fire. A small portion was preserved and integrated into the campus of the Université du Québec à Montréal ( UQAM ).

History

1820 was Montreal, which was then still part of the Archdiocese of Quebec, an auxiliary bishop. In order not to be longer by the then dominant Sulpizianerorden dependent, the diocese was planning to build a new church at the intersection of Rue Saint- Denis and Rue Sainte -Catherine. On May 22, 1823 construction began, the inauguration took place on 22 September 1825. Supervised the construction had Ignace Bourget held, the first chaplain. Consecrated the church was to Saint James the Elder. On September 8, 1836 after the founding of the Diocese of Montreal, she was awarded the status of a cathedral.

A devastating fire destroyed large on 8 July 1854, the cathedral, along with 1,200 other buildings. Bishop Ignace Bourget decided to build this at another site ( the Cathedral Marie -Reine -du- Monde de Montréal). The destroyed cathedral was rebuilt under the direction of the architect John Ostell as a parish church. However, only a year, the church burned in 1858, after its opening, also down. Victor Bourgeau, a leading Montreal architects of the time, built in 1860 a second new building. This church was in 1876 a 85 meter high tower and a transept in 1889.

1933 a fire destroyed the third church, which was subsequently repaired poorly made ​​. In the 1970s, in the same neighborhood was the campus of UQAM. The government of Quebec introduced in 1973 the church tower and the transept under monument protection. Architect Dimitri Dimakopoulos built around it the Pavillon Judith - Jasmin, which opened in 1979.