herr2ck: St. Peter's Jr.

August 2025.

Montreal’s Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral is a scale model of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, one of the best-known Catholic churches and a remarkable example of Renaissance and Baroque architecture. I don’t really foresee myself going to Rome anytime soon, so this will probably be this blog’s best look at a Renaissance masterpiece.

Mary, Queen of the World is located at 1085 Rue de la Cathedrale in downtown Montreal, Quebec. It is bordered by Rue Mansfield and the Central Station complex to the north, Rue de la Cathedrale and Place du Canada to the south, Rue de La Gauchetiere and 1000 de La Gauchetiere to the east, and Boulevard Rene-Levesque and the Sun Life Building to the west.

History

Mary, Queen of the World was built for the Archdiocese of Montreal as their seat. That diocese traces its origins to the founding of the Diocese of Montreal from the larger Archdiocese of Quebec in 1836. At that time, their seat was Cathedrale Saint-Jacques, which burned down in 1852. (Its subsequent replacements both burned again in 1858 and 1933, and the existing church is just a standing facade.) After occupying a small chapel in the interim, a smaller church was built on the site of the current Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral.

1895 photo of the cathedral and the much different urban context of the time. (Wikimedia)

Mary, Queen of the World’s design was commissioned by bishop Ignace Bourget, who wanted a scale model of St. Peter’s due to the choice of the Sulpicians (Notre-Dame) and the Anglican Church (Christ Church Cathedral) of Gothic Revival architecture. Its first architect, Victor Borgeau, turned down the commission after visiting St. Peter’s, as he considered it impossible to replicate at a smaller scale. The Historic Site listing writes that at the time, progressive ideals were colliding with the Catholic Church’s conservatism, and Bourget’s choice to design such a massive cathedral was meant to indicate the church’s predominance over “secular” politics and social issues. It was meant to face east towards Rue de la Gauchetiere, but the site was rejected due to its status as a public park, so it faces the opposite direction towards Boulevard Rene-Levesque.

Construction on the cathedral began in 1870 and occurred in two major stages--1870-1878 and 1885-1894. The first stone was laid in 1870, but after that work proceeded slowly, as it was interrupted when funding ceased. Montreal had a financial crisis between 1875 and 1876, and bishop Bourget resigned that year. When work stopped in 1878, the roof and dome were not yet built. Bourget worked to fix the church’s financial difficulties, and he was buried in a crypt inside the cathedral after his death in 1885. With his and another former bishop’s internment in the cathedral, the diocese worked quickly to complete it. The wooden dome sheathed in copper was completed in 1886.

1945 view of the church next to the Sun Life Building, similar to how it appears today. (Mary, Queen of the World website)

The church was consecrated in 1894 as Saint James Cathedral. Its architects are listed as Victor Borgeau and Joseph Michaud. When it opened, it was the largest church in Quebec, and remains one of the largest today. As the building stands, it is a ⅕ scale representation of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Historic photo of the nave. (Mary, Queen of the World website)

In 1919, Mary, Queen of the World was made a minor basilica. It received its present name in 1955 at Paul-Emile Leger’s request, who was the archbishop of Montreal and on the College of Cardinals at the time. Beginning that year and continuing until 1960, restoration work occurred on the cathedral. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2000, and more restoration work took place in 2003.

Photos

Let’s start with an oblique view from the corner of Boulevard Rene-Levesque and Rue Mansfield:

St. Peter’s is more eye-poppingly Baroque and has more than one kind of masonry used, but this church is still pretty impressive nonetheless.

The facade is dominated by colossal Corinthian columns, which support an entablature running the length of it and a pediment in the middle:

The story above features various copper statues of saints.

Nice vignette of the facade between Dorchester Square’s trees and the Sun Life Building:

Most of the bays between columns have windows, but some have empty niches:

One of the larger vaulted entrances at the corners, which has smaller Ionic columns with square shafts:

It’s a little odd how short this richer facade is, and it yields to the plainer rusticated masonry of the nave’s exterior. St. Peter’s does it too, but it is surrounded by other buildings and the colonnade of the square. Mary, Queen of the World has a more urban context, and the bare walls definitely have a less interesting feel than the buttresses of the Gothic.

Okay, now it’s time to be inundated with dome shots. One of the smaller domes with Ionic engaged columns and a Doric cupola in front of the main one:

In Place du Canada:

Zoomed in, we can see the details better:

It is a replica of Michelangelo’s design for St. Peters’ dome. The drum has alternating windows and double Corinthian columns, and the tall copper dome curves above, interrupted by little oxeye windows. The cupola has small Ionic columns and a finial crowned by a cross.

Last one…the rich Baroque dome contrasted with the staunchly International Place Ville Marie:

Ironically, both are clad in metal for aesthetic purposes, which obscures the true structural system of the buildings. PVM is just a little more honest about it.

Let’s head inside. Here’s the narthex:

The smaller entrances are pedimented, and the larger ones have columns supporting them. The floor is detailed in stone, and the ceiling above is vaulted and richly gilded. The pediments are both a triangular broken kind and this circular version:

The Ionic pilasters and coursing along the wall speak to Renaissance architecture’s elaboration of classical designs, though detractors might say the genius of classical architecture was reduced to decoration that can simply be stuck to a wall.

The main entrance to the nave:

**In the coming photos, you will notice an orangeish tint. My camera’s light balance at the time was calibrated to a gray card in neon purple lighting for an old photography class project, which I failed to reset afterwards. I only noticed this discrepancy and rectified it months later.

I like the narthex a lot, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the nave:

I thought THIS space was monumental as it was, so I can only imagine how large the real St. Peter’s is. A vaulted, coffered ceiling is supported by massive Corinthian pilasters, and the bays between serve as the aisles.

A closer look at the ceiling--note the words coursing along the frieze below:

Vaulted bay and clerestory window above:

One of the richly pedimented entries, with a Station of the Cross adjacent:

Looking down the aisle towards one of the chapels:

More broken pediments and richly detailed classical ornament here--very Baroque. I definitely enjoyed putzing around looking at all the details:

I am an agnostic ex-Catholic, but I have always had an appreciation for religious architecture, especially the Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals of Europe. It’s interesting how architects tried to make their gods visible through design.

Even the confessionals here are fancy:

Love this moment in the nave closer to the crossing--vaults, pendentives, and orthogonal walls visually intersecting:

A replica of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s famous baldacchino:

Sure, it’s a replica, but the richness and gilding of this thing is off the charts. I love the twisting columns and the curving roof.

Looking back at the organ:

One of the crypts:

The wall behind uses forced perspective and trompe l’oeil to create the illusion of a smaller niche recessing into a painting of the church’s dome. Given the death date of 1885, I believe this is Bishop Bourget’s tomb.

Looking across the nave to Mary’s chapel:

This is probably the best view of the dome I have. I would have had to stand right in front of the altar/baldacchino, and two things struck me--Mass was about to start, and this is the holiest Catholic church in Montreal. If some clueless tourist got in the way, they’d have to say five Hail Marys ;)

The circular dome springs from the rectangular space below through a structural feature known as pendentives, which are the Y-shaped things between the ceiling vaults and entablature below that have the paintings on them. Above, another entablature with more text and modillions lies below small pilasters and windows.

Looking down the crossing to the other transept--the priest was walking onto the platform, so I had to hurry it up a bit after this:

Okay, this view isn’t too bad either--you can see the roof of the dome a bit better too:

Detail of the rich Corinthian pilaster capitals and moldings above:

Again, this is the Baroque tendency to slather classical ornament and gilding on EVERYTHING. Renaissance architecture was generally more restrained, and the more sober Neoclassical architecture was later introduced as an alternative to this bananas level of filigree.

One of the Stations of the Cross: