Canada Guide
Québec City
Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Québec
Address: Rue du Trésor
Opening time: Daily 8am–4pm; tours every 30min 8.30–3.30pm; Heavenly Lights show May to mid-Oct Mon– Fri 6 shows daily from 3.30pm, Sat & Sun 3 shows daily from 6.30pm
Price: Free, light show $7.50
Telephone: 418/694-0665
Website: www.patrimoine-religieux.com
From Place d'Armes, you can follow rue du Trésor directly north towards the impressive bulk of the Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Québec. The oldest parish north of Mexico, the church was burnt to the ground in 1922 – one of many fires it has suffered – and was rebuilt to the original plans of its seventeenth-century forebear. Absolute silence within the cathedral heightens the impressiveness of the Rococo-inspired interior, culminating in a ceiling of blue sky and billowy clouds. The altar, a gilded replica of St Peter's, is surmounted by an elaborate baldachin uncharacteristically supported by angelic caryatids rather than columns due to the narrow space, and is topped by a statue of Jesus standing on a gilded sphere. The pewter sanctuary lamp, to the right of the main altar, was a gift from Louis XIV and is one of the few treasures to survive the fire. In the crypt more than nine hundred bodies, including three governors and most of Québec's bishops, are interred. Champlain is also rumoured to be buried here, though archeologists are still trying to work out which body is his. Unfortunately, the only part of the crypt you can see on the informative guided tours is a mundane modern corridor – skip the Crypt part and the tour is free; otherwise it's a dollar.
In the afternoons, access to the cathedral is limited to half an hour at a time unless you pay for the half-hour Heavenly Lights sound and light show. Architectural details are illuminated and isolated in the darkness to give you a sense of the volumes that make up the church's interior.