Facing the CBC complex is the imposing Saint-Pierre-Apôtre church. From bored faubourg workers to the LGBTQ+ community, the south-central Montreal institution has welcomed Montrealers from all walks of life.
From suburb to working-class neighborhood
In 1725, fortifications were erected to protect Montreal from possible attack. Several gates provide access to ville : Récollets Gate on the west, St. Laurent Gate on the north and Quebec City Gate on the east, along Notre-Dame Street, the road to the capital. It is this opening that is the source of the development of the faubourg Québec : a population that settles outside the city walls.
The demolition of the fortifications in 1801 allowed the accelerated growth of these suburbs, which are now fully integrated into the urban fabric. Until the first third of the 19th century, urbanization remained close to the river and Notre-Dame (Sainte-Marie) Street, particularly around the intersection of Papineau Road, one of the few roads crossing the island to the Rivière des Prairies. There is a market and shops, the Molson beer factory and the Montreal prison.
Soon, the sector was industrialise : factories (rubber, footwear, clothing and cigarette factories in particular) were located next to smaller factories (tannery, brickworks, foundry, etc.), forming the largest industrial concentration in the city after the Lachine Canal. This industrial pole attracts a large number of workers from the greater Montreal area, Quebec and even elsewhere in the world. The general demographic growth of Montreal (1851 : 57,000 people; 1891 : 255,000 people and 1931 : 820,000 people) is obviously also expressed in this neighbourhood. Settling close to their jobs, the families of these workers were taken care of by parishes, a structuring element of social life at the time.
St. Peter the Apostle Church
Until the middle of the 19th century, Montreal had only one parish church, while its population grew and expanded. Soon, it was difficult for parishioners further away to reach their place of worship. In 1848, Monsignor Ignace Bourget, Bishop of Montreal, allowed the construction of a chapel in the Quebec City suburb, on de la Visitation Street. Small and made of wood, the chapel was entrusted to the Oblate Fathers, a religious community that came from France in 1841. The chapel quickly overflowed and a new church was ordered in 1850. Its design was entrusted to Victor Bourgeau. From then on, the latter became the official architect of the Diocese of Montreal, building dozens of churches, convents, chapels and other institutional complexes, including the Hôtel-Dieu, the church of Pointe-Claire and part of the cathedral of Marie-Reine-du-Monde.
Victor Bourgeau imagines a masterly neo-gothic church in grey stone. The construction site of Saint-Pierre-Apôtre church was started in 1851 and completed barely two years later. Certain elements will be added later. In 1875, the bell tower, topped by a bronze spire, was built, overlooking the neighbourhood at a height of more than 70 metres. On the side façades, one notices light arches, essentially decorative, which rest on pinnacles inserted between the lower windows. Above the entrance to the church, a statue of St. Peter overlooks the visitors. Made of pressed cement and bronze, it was installed in 1941, replacing the original sculpture dating from 1858.
As you enter the church, you immediately notice the abundant natural light, which flows through the 36 stained glass windows. The one representing St. Peter, at the back of the choir, dates from 1853. The long nave is topped by a vaulted ceiling with intertwined ribs, supported by imposing limestone pillars. In 1930-1931, fireproofing work was carried out to revamp the interior of the church. The original Bourgeau decorations were then refreshed by Guido Nincheri.
In 1977, the Saint-Pierre-Apôtre church and neighboring buildings (the Saint-Pierre master's office, the presbytery and the sacristy) were classified by the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec.
Fractures and rebirth
The neighborhood was the victim of several major construction projects that affected its population and composition. In the 1920s, the construction of the Jacques-Cartier Bridge led to the first fracture, in the axis of Papineau Street. Then, between 1953 and 1955, Ville de Montréal demolished several city blocks to transform narrow rue Dorchester into a major boulevard, renamed René-Lévesque in 1987. Finally, in 1963-1964, the demolition of the faubourg à m'lasse, between Dorchester, Wolfe, Viger and Papineau streets, to make way for the Radio-Canada site, resulted in the departure of over 5,000 people, the destruction of 678 homes and a multitude of businesses and factories. At the end of these major transformations, the Saint-Pierre-Apôtre parish lost almost all its parishioners.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the neighbourhood - what remains of it - was transformed: institutions of the LGBTQ+ community were established, notably on Sainte-Catherine Street. Montreal's gay neighbourhood took shape north of the Saint-Pierre-Apôtre church. In the 1990s, the church opened its doors to these new parishioners and took on the title of open church, whose welcome was "unconditional for all. The community space in the basement is home to Séro Zéro, an organization dedicated to HIV prevention. In 1996, one of the side chapels became the Chapel of Hope, in honour of AIDS victims.
1 comment
Very interesting