Église catholique Saint-Norbert

Beautiful church very beautiful inside

Very beautiful church

Beautiful church part of the heritage facing the sea, beautiful!

The church of Cap-Chat is of heritage interest for its historical value as a witness to the development of the city. The establishment of a permanent population in the vicinity probably dates back to 1812. A first place of worship is probably erected in 1825 to serve this nascent community. A second replaces it in 1858; the parish is officially established in 1864, under the name of St. Norbert. A new church is built ten years later on the current site. The institutional core of the locality takes shape around the place of worship. The ever-increasing population at the beginning of the 20th century requires a more spacious construction. It is in this context that the current church is built, from 1917 to 1919, just east of the previous one. It is thus a privileged witness of the history of Cap-Chat and its development in the first decades of the twentieth century. The church of Cap-Chat also has a heritage interest for its architectural value. It testifies to the influence of the eclectic current in the religious architecture of the early twentieth century. Eclecticism is a combination of architectural and ornamental elements drawn from various historical styles and more freely associated, in a quest for monumentality and new visual effects. The Catholic Church of Quebec often resorts to the construction of its places of worship and other parish buildings, from the late nineteenth century. The church of Cap-Chat is related to this current in particular by the imposing volume of the tower-steeple half-hors-work and transepts. The use of various architectural elements, such as arched openings, rosettes and oculus, pediments, gables, pilasters and bands are also trademarks. The ornamentation concentrated mainly on the tower and its bell tower also reflects the search for monumentality. Moreover, the church differs from the majority of places of worship Gaspésiens, usually wood, by its masonry in blocks of local granite coming from the strike. The church of Cap-Chat also has a heritage interest for its historical value based on its association with the architect Thomas Raymond (died in 1922). Raymond practices in Quebec at the end of the 19th century and designs several buildings in the Saint-Roch district. He is a founding member of the Association of Architects of the Province of Quebec. During the first two decades of the 20th century, he created plans for several churches in the Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie regions. The church of Cap-Chat is one of the most accomplished works of this architect in the region. Source: Town of Cap-Chat, 2008.