Eglise Saint-Dominique (Saint Dominique Church), Quebec City

Eglise Saint-Dominique (Saint Dominique Church), Quebec City

The idea to build a parish church on Grande Allée Ouest, in the La Cité-Limoilou borough of Quebec City, emerged in 1925. The design of the English-style neo-Gothic building was by architect Joseph-Albert LaRue. The construction lasted from 1929 to 1930, resulting in a Latin-cross-plan temple with a rectangular nave, aisles, transept, and choir.

The building is clad in white granite and topped with a gable roof covered in copper, with a campanile at the crossroads. An imposing tower porch, rising in the center of the façade, is flanked by two side annexes.

The first mass at Saint Dominique's was celebrated on Christmas 1930.

The Dominican Convent by the church was established in 1934. On January 1, 1939, a fire destroyed part of the convent, following which, in 1940, the property underwent thorough restoration, complete with sculptural and other ornamentation by artist Lauréat Vallière. After fourteen years of hard work, Vallière finished the interior in 1953, producing more than 500 sculpted figures and other stone and white oak embellishments.

The sanctuary served the Dominican order until 2010. In 2011, the convent was demolished to make way for the Pierre-Lassonde pavilion of the National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec (Musée National des Beaux-arts du Québec). As of 2016, the church has been assigned to the parish of Saint John the Baptist (Saint Jean-Baptiste).

A designated heritage building, it forms part of the protected area of the Cornelius-Krieghoff house and, as such, remains an important cultural landmark in Quebec City.

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Eglise Saint-Dominique (Saint Dominique Church) on Map

Sight Name: Eglise Saint-Dominique (Saint Dominique Church)
Sight Location: Quebec City, Canada (See walking tours in Quebec City)
Sight Type: Religious
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

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