Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, Quebec

Traveling through small rural communities along the St. Lawrence River in southern Quebec one can not help but be in awe of the beautiful churches found in  even the tiniest of villages. The local church is always the most spectacular building. And I do mean spectacular.

How did this come to be? Looking back into the history of Canada, and the settlement of this area in particular, the answer is quickly found. The churches are a beautiful testament  to the influence of the Roman Catholic Church in the development of this part of the world since the mid 1600s.

For me, the church in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, Quebec holds a special place in my memories. Hence this blog.

Aside: Beaupre is a common name in this area so forgive me if I get confused. There is the Cote-de-Beaupre (coast). There is Beaupre which is the community around Mont Saint-Anne. And then there is Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre where the famous church is. On some of the postcards and brochures we got there, names are hyphenated (Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre) and on others, they are not hyphenated (Sainte-Anne de Beaupre). So, go figure. These places are all within easy driving distances of each other.

Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre is a community about 30 km east of Quebec City. We are staying at a timeshare located in the hills (actually foothills of the Laurentian Mountains) on the north side of the town, using it as our base while we explore this fascinating part of Canada. Each day as we travel to various places of interest we pass the bascilica… right next to the highway. Each time it seems to call out to me.

Have you every had the experience of going everywhere and seeing everything except the one thing that is closest to you? Well, that was what was happening to us.

Finally we made a special effort to stop at the closest place of interest …Sainte-Anne de Beaupre Bascilica. Am I ever glad we did!

The grounds alone would have been worth a visit…the gardens, the stations of the Way of the Cross, and in separate buildings Scala Santa (Holy Stairs), Sainte-Anne Museum, and the Cyclorama of Jerusalem.

The building’s exterior is beautiful…who needs to travel to Paris to see Notre Dame when you can see this basilica. Clarification: If the opportunity ever arose I would return to Paris in a heartbeat though.

Even more stunning is the interior. Looking up one is taken aback. The ceiling is so unique (and I have seen a lot of cathedrals in our travels). Very different designs made in gold leaf…at least I would assume it is gold leaf but that is a research project for another day. Photographs rarely come close to doing the ceiling justice. (Ours did not turn out that well so no specific photos are included here but you get a feel of the ceiling design by looking closely above the stained glass in the photo below.)

(Hint: click on any photo to enlarge it)

I did not count how many stained glass windows there are but the colours are intense.

And the doors…the story of the Life of Christ is told in the silver panels in the doors. Now to me silver panels should be a silver colour, right. But these panels have a copper-like colour to them. Reading the brochure again it definitely states “This is the story of the Life of Christ told in 50 hand wrought silver panels done over a period of 15 years by the master craftsman Albert Gilles.”

I am almost ashamed to admit that I did not know the history of the basilica. Here is a bit of what I learned…

This is not just a “regular” church. It is a basilica.  Basilica is a term that can be used to refer to architectural style but if I understand correctly basilica in this case also refers to a ranking within the Catholic Church’s hierarchy.   For clarification may I suggest you read a brief article about cathedrals, basilicas and shrines by Thomas J Craughwell. He explains it so much better than I.

This basilica was North America’s first pilgrimage site.

Pope John-Paul visited here on a trip to Canada in 1984.

Sainte-Anne is the patron saint of sailors. (and it is  Saint Ann with an “e”) Given the community’s close proximity to the St. Lawrence River it is quite logical the local church would be named after her.

Sainte-Anne was grandmother of Jesus (Mary’s mother).

Check out the basilica’s official website for more information.

How to Get to Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre Basilica

10018 Avenue Royale, Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, Quebec

• Fly to Quebec City
• Drive east on Hwy 138 (about 30 minutes)
• or Book a tour to Montmorency Falls and Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre

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Happy travels!