The essential contribution of religion to Quebec heritage

The Musée des Hospitalières offers three tourist circuits whose main theme is the discovery, through his works, of the architect Victor Bourgeau. The latter was, in the nineteenth^e century, one of the major architects of Quebec’s religious heritage.

Route 1. The first circuit is on foot and participants will take the streets of the Plateau Mont-Royal, the Latin Quarter and will end the route in the village. We start with the conventual complex of the Hospitallers, signed Bourgeau, therefore at the Hôtel-Dieu, and then go to the Saint-Louis square. “Going through the Carré, explains Paul Labonne, director of the Musée des Hospitalières, gives us the opportunity to see where people lived in the 19th century.^e century the French-Canadian bourgeoisie. We continue the road in the Latin Quarter to pass in front of the Saint-Sulpice library and, then, in front of the Saint-Jacques church, today the facade of UQAM. The circuit ends in the Village at the church of Saint-Pierre Apôtre, Bourgeau’s first achievement, and which sealed his reputation.

Route 2. The second circuit is still in Montreal, but travel is by bus. The start this time is again at the Hôtel-Dieu, before visiting the chapel of the Good Shepherd, where the former conventual ensemble of the nuns of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd was built. Then, head west, towards the Gray Nuns convent complex, which dates from 1888. “This is Bourgeau’s last great masterpiece,” says Paul Labonne. He even chose to have the furniture sculpted in marble. Participants will be able to visit the chapel, which today serves as a reading room for Concordia students.

Route 6. Circuit 6 takes us by bus towards Mauricie. First to Trois-Rivières, where we visit the city’s cathedral, a major work by Bourgeau. You can admire the 125 windows, one of the most successful works of Guido Nincheri’s workshop. Head for Shawinigan to get to the Church of Our Lady of the Presentation, decorated by Ozias Leduc. “What is remarkable in Leduc’s paintings is that while some have religious subjects, others are a tribute to the workers of the Mauricie region, particularly those in the forge and in pulp and paper. »