Notre-Dame-des-Victoires (Our Lady of Victories Church), Quebec City

Walking through the Lower Town in Quebec City, there's a good chance of spotting a small Catholic Basilica, crowned with a steeple surmounted by a spire on Royal Square. The neoclassical church of Our Lady of Victory is the oldest stone church in Canada and one of the oldest in North America. It was built from 1687 to 1723 on the remains of the second home of Samuel de Champlain, founder of the city.

Originally dedicated to Baby Jesus, the church got the name of Our Lady of Victory following the Battle of Quebec that took place in 1690, in which the English expedition commanded by Major General William Phipps was forced to retreat. In 1711, the name was changed again, this time to plural, "of Victories," after the bad weather sank the British fleet commanded by Admiral Hovenden Walker. The church was largely destroyed by the British bombardment preceding the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in September of 1759, but was completely restored in 1816.

Nowadays, it is listed as a historic monument and remains a popular tourist site and a place of worship. The extensive restoration performed on the building in recent decades brought it back to the original French colonial style. Despite multiple remodellings over several centuries, some of the original elements of the structure dating from the 1600s, like the fragment of the wall in the basement and the turret on the facade, are still in place. The austere interior is decorated with several paintings from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, among which are the works of Van Dyck, Rubens, and Boyermans.

Also, there are unique frescoes on the sides of the main altar, retracing the history of the church and the city. Created by local painter Jean-Marie Tardevel, the most striking element of the interior, however, is the replica of the 17th-century vessel Le Brèze, which brought French soldiers to New France in 1664, commanded by Marquis de Tracy, recovered from the church ruins in 1759. It is now hanging suspended from the ceiling.

In 2002, the church served as a filming location for the Catch Me If You Can movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.