Saint Joseph's Oratory

The St. Joseph's Oratory (French: Oratory of Saint -Joseph du Mont- Royal) is a Roman Catholic basilica in the Canadian city of Montreal. The representative domed church located southwest of Mount Royal in a prominent place and forms the highest points of the city. The church is dedicated to Saint Joseph. It is visited annually by over two million people and used by pilgrims as a pilgrimage church. In the late 1980s the oratory served the film drama Jesus of Montreal as the main backdrop.

Architecture

1904 began by André Bessette ( Brother André ) initiated construction of a small chapel next to the Collège Notre -Dame du Sacré -Coeur. Soon the cramped conditions were no longer up to the task, so that in 1917 a church was built, which offered 1,000 seats. 1924, the construction of a basilica was begun, which was completed only in 1967. Brother André was canonized Blessed and 17 October 2010 on 23 May 1982. The religious building is one with a capacity of 10,000 people, including 3,000 seats of the largest churches in the world and is the largest in Canada. The architects of the church are DALBE Viau and Alphonse Venne.

The church is elevated and is accessible via a wide staircase with 300 steps. It measures 105 meters in length, 37 meters in width and has an overall height of 129 meters on. The stretched in the vertical dome with an octagonal floor plan has an inner diameter of 26 meters, the outer diameter is 39 meters. The dome height measured from the floor inside 60 meters, up to the outer dome is 97 meters. The materials were primarily granite and used for the coupling of copper.

Organ

The basilica has two organs. In the crypt there is a tool which goes back to an organ, which was built in 1917 by the organ builders Casavant ( St. Hyacinthe ). The instrument initially had 18 stops on two manual and pedal works, and was expanded in the 1950s by the organ builder Odilon Jacques and expanded to include a third manual work ( Swell ). In 2008, the instrument has been completely restored, and it also expands the disposition and the organ case. The organ now has 36 registers on three manuals and pedal.

The great organ of Saint Joseph's Oratory was built in the years 1958-1959 by the organ builder Rudolf von Beckerathin Hamburg and 1960 installed in the basilica. The instrument is regarded as a masterpiece of the organ builder and is one of the ten most outstanding organs counted world .. It has 78 registers ( 118 ranks of pipes, 5,811 organ pipes ) on five manuals and pedal. The play and Registertrakturen are mechanical. A special feature is the upgraded 32 ' pedal stops in the Prospectus.

• Couplers: I / II, III / II, IV / II, II / P III / P

Gallery

Altar

The chapel originally built by Andrés

The grave of his brother Andrés

Elevator room inside the church