Eastern Canada Faith Buildings, Part One

I’ve just returned from a work/family tour of Quebec, NB and PEI which provided beautiful landscapes, lovely people, good seafood, and… MORE REPURPOSED FAITH BUILDINGS. WOO HOO!  In all seriousness it was a great voyage and provided me with lots of new perspectives.

In the next few blog posts I’ll be reporting back on some of the sites that we visited, including:

·     A former Catholic church fully repurposed into a music and community venue in a rural setting

·     A Catholic Cathedral, reinterpreted using digital methodologies in an urban setting

·     A former Presbyterian church repurposed into a restaurant in a rural tourist region

·     A regional rural tour of four sacred sites including both churches and faith community housing. 

·     A non -denominational meeting house, managed as part of a series of historic sites and museums in an urban setting

So let’s start in Quebec in the Batiscan region where (having wandered off the highway looking for gas and tea) my family and I came open the Sacré Circuitof the Batiscan region (http://www.batiscan.ca/fr/tourisme/attraits/sacre/)which includes the Église de Champlain, Vieux Presbytère de Batiscan, Église de Batiscan and Église de Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade.  Our travels brought us upon Vieux Presbytère which we stopped to visit for half an hour, wandering its pastoral setting and house, and being eaten alive by mosquitos!

The house was quite large for the time period, having been built in 1816. It includes nine quite large rooms with exposed beams and an airy, open feel. The interpretation at the site is about a specific Jesuit priest Winceslas Théophile Fréchette and his housekeeper and what their lives were like at the time.  

There was a number of things that struck me about this faith -based site. As a house museum (I see a lot of them in my role with the National Trust for Canada)  it had a lovely approach to allowing visitors access to the artifacts, while also protecting them.  The use of the curving iron railings seen in the pictures, allowed us to walk fully around the artifacts, reducing the disconnect that one often feels when you are confronted by a roped off area.  We were able to get closer, and visually the curved iron railing felt more of the time than ropes do. 

Additionally, the usage of the Vieux Presbytère is both modern and historic.  The grounds have a pavilion (sponsored by Desjardins) for large scale events to enjoy the grounds.  Many areas of the house are rentable as well, and this combined with museum programming and a small local goods store increases the usage of the site. Programming includes food events, garden gatherings, comedy and theatre events and costumed interpretations. 

If we’d had more time, I would have loved to visit the other sites in the Sacré Circuit, which includes three local churches as well.  As we were driving along the river, through little towns on a lovely winding, atmospheric road, I thought that visiting all four with a picnic in tow would have made for a great afternoon out.  I can see how this “Sacred Architecture Tour” has made these spaces accessible and integrated them into a wholistic local tourist experience, incorporating, food, architecture, landscape and history. Here’s hoping for more like these in the rest of Canada!