Saint-Joachim de Pointe-Claire Church (french: Église Saint-Joachim de Pointe-Claire) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church in

Pointe-Claire Pointe-Claire (, ) is a Quebec local municipality within the Urban agglomeration of Montreal on the Island of Montreal in Canada. It is entirely developed, and land use includes residential, light manufacturing, and retail. As of the 2021 ce ...

, Quebec, Canada.

History

The first church on the site was a stone church built in 1713. A replacement was built between 1750 and 1755. From 1868 to 1881 a third church was built alongside the second church according to plans by architect Victor Bourgeau. In April 1881 a fire destroyed both the old church and the new church. Some masonry from the old church was reused, as were the walls of the sacristy Construction of a replica was undertaken that year, and

consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

was in September 1885. The organ was installed by the Compagnie d'Orgues Canadiennes in 1928. The church was restored in 1963–1964 and again in 1987.

Design

It is made of grey stone in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style, with the floorplan in the shape of a Latin cross. The exterior features

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

es, and a monumental

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religi ...

. The perfectly symmetrical design includes pinnacle-topped

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

s at either side of the facade. The walls include by gothic style windows. Frames and ornaments are hammered stone. The ornate interior includes many

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

s containing statues of the saints. carved patterns of

quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...

s. The

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

comprises seven angled wall sections.

References

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History

Design

References

Further reading