Montréal's Religious Heritage: French Working-Class Montréal

Montréal’s Religious Heritage: French Working-Class Montréal, a digital chapter taken from the guide Discovering Montréal’s Religious Heritage, is your invitation to discover all the diversity and beauty of the religious heritage of Montréal and its environs. In full colour and lavishly illustrated with magnificent photos, this one-of-a-kind guidebook reveals the secrets of an exceptionally rich heritage unequalled anywhere else in North America.
This tour takes us through the eastern parts of the city, into historically working-class districts. The Angus Shops, which employed many of those who lived here, were built between 1902 and 1903 to house the locomotive assembly and maintenance plants for the Canadian Pacific Railway. This industrial development brought a flood of new residents, and new parishes were set up to accommodate them. These boom years saw cathedral-like churches spring up throughout the area. We will explore several of these, in a range of diverse architectural styles ranging from the Dombellotiste to Romanesque Revival to Art Deco. We will also discover the studio of one of Québec’s greatest stained-glass artists, as well as the converted church, which has hosted the city’s first “community restaurant” for more than a decade.
Conceived for pilgrims whose journeys are prompted by their faith as well as those drawn by art, architecture, and history, Montréal’s Religious Heritage: French Working-Class Montréal shines a light on Montréal’s rich religious heritage, both ancient and modern. It also spotlights successfully converted religious buildings that have been given a new lease on life.