Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica
385 Sussex Drive
Written by Bytown Museum
on
03/Dec/2009
Ottawa's oldest surviving and largest church was constructed between 1841 and 1853 but it wasn't until 1858 that the two towers received their trademark matching spires. It was a group of Ottawa River raftsmen that donated the gilded statue of a Madonna and Child that sits above the front gable at the top of the church.
The church interior, completed over later decades, is an incredible site to behold with its detailed vaulted ceilings, side galleries, extensive woodwork, carved altars and 60 sculptures by Québec artist Louis-Philippe Hébert.
The site of today's basilica was originally home to the small wooden St. Jacques Church built in 1832, the same year that work on the Rideau Canal was completed.
