Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is a Roman Catholicin Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and parish church in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. A Gothic Revival-style building constructed between 1876 and 1888 by architect Joseph Connolly, it is considered Connolly's best work. The monumental church contains decorative carvings and stained glass executed by skilled craftsmen. The church of Our Lady is one of the 122 parishes in the Diocese of Hamilton and currently has 2,600 families in the congregation.
In 1990, the church was designated a National Historic Site of Canada. Pope Francis designated the church a basilica on 8 December 2014.
Thanks to Google Earth Studio for this amazing aerial view.
In 1990, the church was designated a National Historic Site of Canada. Pope Francis designated the church a basilica on 8 December 2014.
Thanks to Google Earth Studio for this amazing aerial view.
Category
🏖
TravelTranscript
00:00Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and parish
00:14church in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. A Gothic Revival-style building constructed between
00:201876 and 1888 by architect Joseph Connolly, it is considered Connolly's best work. The
00:26monumental church contains decorative carvings and stained glass executed by skilled craftsmen.
00:32The Church of Our Lady is one of the 122 parishes in the Diocese of Hamilton and currently has
00:372,600 families in the congregation. In 1990, the church was designated a National Historic
00:43Site of Canada. Pope Francis designated the church a basilica on 8 December 2014 the interior
00:49of the basilica. Post-renovations in 2015 when John Galt founded
00:54Guelph on April 23, 1827, he allocated the highest point in the center of the newly founded
01:00town to Roman Catholics as a compliment to his friend, Bishop Alexander Macdonald, who
01:05had given him advice in the formation of the Canada Company. A road was also later cleared
01:10leading up to the hill and named after the bishop, called Macdonald Street. According
01:14to the Guelph Public Library archives, Galt wrote the following statement in the deed
01:18transferring the land on which the Church of Our Lady would one day stand. On this hill
01:23would one day rise a church to rival St. Peter's in Rome. The Roman Catholic Church of Our
01:28Lady Immaculate is the third church to stand on this site, high above the streetscape.
01:33Overlooking the city of Guelph, the first church, a framed wooden church named St. Patrick's,
01:39had been built on the hill by 1835 and was the first structure in Guelph that was painted
01:43on both its interior and exterior. It burned to the ground on October 10, 1844.
01:50Construction on St. Bartholomew's Church began shortly after St. Patrick's was destroyed.
01:55The new building was completed in 1846. The following inscription appeared on the cornerstone
02:00of St. Bartholomew's Church. To God, the best and greatest. The faithful of Guelph, of the
02:05Diocese of Toronto have built this new church, in honor of the blessed Apostle Bartholomew.
02:11The first church having been consumed in flames. Construction of the new church, based
02:15on the Cologne Cathedral, began in 1877 under Irish-Canadian architect Joseph Connolly who
02:21had designed many churches in Ireland, England, and Ontario, notably St. Peter's Cathedral
02:26in London, Ontario. Built of local limestone in High Victorian Gothic Revival style, the
02:32Church of Our Lady is considered to be Connolly's masterpiece. The design was inspired by the
02:37medieval cathedrals of France, and includes twin towers, a large rose window, pointed
02:42windows, and an interior design where the chapels radiate from the polygonal apse.
02:47Matthew Bell, a well-known Guelph artisan, was responsible for some of the carvings on
02:52the exterior as well as on the interior pillars of the church. He died in 1883 as a result
02:58of injuries sustained in a fall while working on the building. In 1888, almost 12 years
03:03after construction commenced, the church was dedicated to Our Lady Immaculate. The
03:08twin towers, which rise to a height of over 200 feet, 61 meters, were not completed until
03:14November 13, 1926. The completed church stands at the head of Macdonald Street as an imposing
03:20view terminus, similar to another major project by Connolly, St. Mary's Church in Toronto.
03:26In 1958, the parish added a new entrance from Macdonald Street, but aside from this, the
03:31exterior appearance has changed little since 1926. The complete construction of the church
03:36took more than 50 years, probably qualifying it as the longest construction project in
03:41the city's history. The 100th anniversary was celebrated on 10 October 1988. Long-awaited
03:48restoration of the church began in April 2007 and was completed in December 2014, at a cost
03:54of over $12 million. Talk of restoration began in the early 1990s, with work on the slate
04:00roof completed in 1992.