Notre-Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral: Quebec City Travel Guide

A cathedral rebuilt from its own ashes

Notre-Dame was first built on this spot in 1647. A wooden chapel came first. Then the British bombardment during the 1759 siege left it a shell, and a fire in 1922 gutted it again. Each time the city rebuilt it on the same footprint, so what you see today is a reconstruction that follows the older plans.

It is the seat of the oldest diocese in North America north of Mexico, founded under Bishop François de Laval. The pale stone façade faces Place de l’Hôtel-de-Ville. Its single tower is lopsided because the matching second tower was never finished.

Inside: gold, glass and the crypt

Inside you get a long nave under a vaulted ceiling. Your eye goes straight to the gilded baldachin over the high altar, held up by carved angels. Stained-glass windows line both sides, and the pews run in long rows down the centre.

What to look for:

• The baldachin over the main altar, the most photographed part of the interior
• The Holy Door, set into the façade for the parish’s 350th anniversary in 2014. It opens only during jubilee years
• Laval’s funerary chapel, honouring the first bishop
• The crypt, the burial place of bishops and of several governors of New France, Frontenac among them. Rue De Buade outside takes its name from his family

You can usually only see the crypt on a guided visit, so ask at the welcome desk inside the entrance.

Quiet in the nave, and other etiquette

This is a working cathedral that holds Mass every day. Visitors walk the side aisles while people pray in the pews, and nobody minds as long as you keep your voice down.

• During Mass, stay at the back or come back later. Walking the aisles mid-service is the mistake that gets tourists shushed.
• Take photos without flash, and never point a camera at the altar during a service.
• Cover your shoulders and take your hat off. Quebecers rarely make a fuss about it, but it’s expected.
• Entry to the nave is free. If there’s a charge for tours or the crypt, it’s posted at the desk and on the official site.
• Greet staff with “Bonjour.” They switch to English straight away, but starting in French goes down well.

Times currently run 7:30am–4pm Monday to Friday, 7:30am–5:30pm on Saturday and 8am–5pm on Sunday. These shift through the year and around religious holidays. Coming at opening usually beats the walking tours and cruise-ship groups that fill Upper Town by late morning.

Getting there and what’s next door

The cathedral is in Old Québec’s Upper Town, inside the walls. From the Château Frontenac, walk down Rue du Fort and turn onto Rue De Buade. It takes about two minutes. If you’re coming from Petit-Champlain in Lower Town, ride the Funiculaire up or climb the Breakneck Stairs (Escalier Casse-Cou), then walk a few blocks north.

Combine it with:

• Séminaire de Québec and the Musée de l’Amérique francophone, through the gate right beside the cathedral
• Rue du Trésor, the narrow lane of outdoor art stalls just across the square
• Terrasse Dufferin, the boardwalk below the Château Frontenac with its view of the St. Lawrence
• Place Royale and Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in Lower Town, a short walk down the hill