St. Pierre Cathedral () is an early 20th-century church that served as the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Vicariate Apostolic of Iles Saint Pierre and Miquelon before it was dissolved in 2018. It is now part of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of La Rochelle and Saintes The Diocese of La Rochelle and Saintes (; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the département of Charente-Maritime and the French overseas collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. The bishop is a ...

. The church is located close to the harbour front of the capital city on the rue

Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier (; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French maritime explorer from Brittany. Jacques Cartier was the first Europeans, European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, wh ...

. A church was first constructed in the late 17th century, opening in 1690. Due to the Great Fire of 1902, the current structure dates back to 1907. The church is noted for containing

stained glass window Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

s that were donated by

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

History

In 1668, French settlers began inhabiting the islands, bringing their

Catholic faith The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international instituti ...

along with them. Construction of the cathedral most likely started after this time and it was completed in 1690. The building remained standing until November 1902, when it was obliterated—along with the majority of the town—in the Great Fire, which originated from the cathedral. St. Pierre was subsequently rebuilt from 1905 to 1907 using Basque-style architecture.

Architecture

Exterior

St. Pierre Cathedral was built in the Basque style of architecture and is noted for its mixture of European and local Saint-Pierrais features in its design. This is demonstrated in the church's incorporation of Alsatian

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

and native pink

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

. When the cathedral was rebuilt in 1905, the reconstruction used cement—an innovative construction material at the time. However, this did not withstand the elements well and resulted in damage to the exterior walls. As a result, restoration was undertaken in 1975, with the

belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...

being completely rebuilt.

Stained glass windows

The church contains both early 20th century and

modern Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

stained glass windows. The former depicts saints from France—St.

Marguerite Marie Alacoque Margaret Mary Alacoque (; 22 July 1647 – 17 October 1690) was a French Visitation nun and mystic who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in its modern form. Biography Early life Alacoque was born in 1647 in L'Hautecour, B ...

, St. Bernadette and

Our Lady of Lourdes Our Lady of Lourdes (; ) is one the Marian devotions, devotional names or titles under which the Catholic Church venerates the Mary, mother of Jesus, Virgin Mary. The name commemorates a series of Lourdes apparitions, 18 apparitions reported by ...

—as well as the cathedral's namesake in Montmartre, whose architectural style was emulated by the cathedral. The modern windows were given by

during his 1967 visit to the overseas territory. These show scenes from the Gospel involving the sea and ships—a symbol of the islands depicted on their unofficial flag—as well as

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

convening the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

References

External links