Thursday Doors is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing it, between Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time), by using the blue link-up button below.
Église du Sacré-Coeur – Stanstead, Québec
Earlier this year we spent a few days exploring Québec’s Eastern Townships near the border with Vermont.
Driving around the town of Stanstead we got a glimpse of this red brick beauty between the trees.
Of course one of the first things I wonder about when I see another big old church is what the doors must be like 😉
We circled back to take a closer look and were not disappointed.
Église du Sacré-Coeur is a catholic church that was originally built 1875 and 1877 and then partially rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1915.
I was unable to find any photographs from the original building before the fire but through my research I found that the rebuild included a more intricate facade and a bigger, taller bell tower.
The oddest thing about this church is the choice by the architect and builder to use red brick, particularly since the village of Stanstead is actually located in the heart of one of the biggest granite production regions on the continent.
As is often the case these days, we tried the door to see if we could take a peak inside, but being mid-week it was locked.
So instead I took a few extra minutes to walk around the entire building to check out all of the other doors.
The Parrish is still on of the most active in the region and the church does see a fair amount of use at various times of the year for concerts as well as regular Sunday services.
On our way back to the car I turned around for one last look. I don’t know if it was the relaxing effects of being on vacation, but the whole scene of this majestic building sitting on this wonderful big tree-filled lot, with the red, the green, and the bright blue sky; it all felt so peaceful and soothing that I had to try to capture that sensation in one last shot.
Want to join in on the fun and share your own Thursday Doors post with other door lovers? Click on the blue button below to add the link to your Thursday Doors post to our link-up list.
Don’t forget that if you share your blog posts on Twitter and Instagram, use the #ThursdayDoors hashtag to help others find you, and please do take a few minutes to visit some of the Thursday Door posts shared by others.
As always I thank you for looking 🙂
Unfortunately, I am not scaling back although I visit people usually only during weekends, Norm. I hope all goes well and wish you luck, as well as blessings in your boutique business endeavor. ❤
I loved the red brick with gorgeous steeple, white details and the circular window with white (cement?) bricks and intricate pattern displayed.
Every door post you do is fascinating and shows so much more than just doors!
Hope your feast will be a splendid one, enjoy and relax in the warmth of family. 🙂
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Norm you live in the most beautiful architectural place… Stunning church, and until I saw the details I never would have thought Catholic, since I am used to Southern California Catholic and Roman Catholic. Red doors, also, never say Catholic to me.
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Thanks Katie 🙂
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I especially liked the little white door _ it reminds me of a chirch I visited in Ohio once with a “death’s door” which led right to the graveyard.
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Thanks. I think this one was a bit small for that. I’m guessing it was for a coal chute, but I’m not 100% sure about that 🙂
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Love old churches…. pity it was locked
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Thanks and welcome. Old churches often have some of the best doors 🙂
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Hooray for red doors! Love your site and will visit again.
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Hooray indeed. Thanks for the visit 🙂
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That last shot is stunning! I don’t think I’ve ever seen double entry doors in red. It lends very well to the majestic nature of the building! 🙂
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Thanks Amy 🙂
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Impressive building! Wow, did they replicate the original Sacre Coeur in Paris? Although the red brick and white give it a very different impression:)
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Thanks. I didn’t find any references to it being modeled on any other specific churches.
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Great door, love the house!!
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Thanks 🙂
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Beautiful shots, Norm! I love red doors, so this was a wonderful treat to my eyes! 🙂
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Thank you Angela – glad you liked it 🙂
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Wonderful pictures of a truly spectacular church.
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Thank you 🙂
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I love that last shot, Norm. I looks good enough to be a postcard – you should offer some prints to the local tourist office.:)
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Thanks Jean. Not a bad suggestion, I should start send out some of my shots to see if I might be able to sell a few.
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the third photo down is my fav of them all – it is like the twins (two doors) are hiding beneath the ledge – but wonderful architecture throughout.
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Thank you 🙂
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Neat, neat! You have some wonderful windows there too!
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Thanks Ludwig. You’re right about the windows. In retrospect I probably should have saved one or two shots for Monday – sorry 😦
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Gorgeous church doors and photos.
Here is my entry for this week.
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Thanks Cee 🙂
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Whoa! That sure didn’t come out the way it appeared in the gallery. Sorry aboiut the size and angle. Feel free to delete!!
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Yes, I will probably do that later. Folks usually just create their own Thursday Doors posts on their blogs and post the links to the post here. If you’re on twitter or instagram you could share this pic there though. It is a cool old pic 🙂
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Thanks Norm. I know most people do that on their own site; I’ve visited many that do just that as part of your challenge. Don’t worry I won’t be doing it again – really messed up your comments.
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No worries. You tried something; it didn’t work that’s all. There are far worse things in life.
You’re welcome here anytime you want to join in 🙂
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I appreciate that, Norm.
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Love the red doors. Maybe they were inspired by the story of the three little pigs. lol I would have love to see it before the fire.
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Thanks 🙂
From what I read it was somewhat similar, they just went a little fancier the second time around.
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That really is a peaceful, beautiful capture — that blue sky has a way of making everything look clean and fresh. Thanks for sharing those tranquil moments.
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You’re right about the sky, but the whole scene felt so right outta Mayberry, I was half-expecting Aunt Bee to come up the walkway holding a fresh-baked pie 😉
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Sweet!
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I love the deep red brick, Norm, especially as it’s set off by the stone accents at the windows and doors. It’s funny how, when we see a building, our first thoughts go to “ooh, there might be a door :)”
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Now when I see a pretty building I become almost offended, well no let’s say disappointed, if the doors don’t measure up to the rest of the structure 🙂
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Ha ha – I now that feeling. You turn the corner and see those aluminum and glass rectangles and you just sigh…
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This sounded like a really nice getaway. Peaceful. NICE capture throughout.
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Thanks – it was a relaxing few days 🙂
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Beautiful! I love that brickwork and stonework, and especially the combinations of the two. Nice doors, too!
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Awe thanks 🙂
It was a really well maintained building too.
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Norm, what am I doing wrong? The URL of my blog post doesn’t work. Maybe it is because it is https:// I have tried to link it to the site without much luck. Can you talk me through it? Sorry to use your comments for this, perhaps you could email me off site. Ian
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Got your email and replied. Don’t worry we’ll figure it out in 🙂
In the meantime I put the correct link in the link-up list.
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What a pretty church!
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I thought so too – thank you 🙂
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What a beauty! I bet the inside is gorgeous too. I had the same thought that Janet did about using the red brick rather than granite. The architect probably wanted to do something bold and different I suspect.
Great find Norm!
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Thanks Deborah. You may be right about the brick 🙂
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What a joy it would be to come here very Sunday, although I find it sad that churches now have to be locked at other times, instead of being places to come to rest, repent, or simply relax. Maybe the brick was used just because everything else was granite, to have something different and certainly beautiful. The red doors are great, too.
janet
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Thanks Janet 🙂
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Gorgeous, gorgeous church, Norm. You did a fabulous job capturing the beauty of the church, doors and setting. Love the red brick and red doors and would also be curious to see the inside…if it’s just as wonderful as the outside. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks for the kinds words 🙂
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Like you, I get excited when I see a spire or bell tower peaking out from the tops of trees. Occasionally I’m disappointed but usually not ☺
The last photo – your zen shot – is my favorite. I like the way you captured the entire building snuggled so perfectly in the trees.
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Thanks Joanne. I was quite happy with ow that shot came out 🙂
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You captured the beauty of this church quite well, Norm. Everything including the doors, facade, and brick look like they are meticulously maintained. It was a lovely find. 🙂
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Thanks Judy. You’re right it is well maintained. My first thought when I saw the age of this building was, ‘there’s no way this place is 100 years old’.
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How perverse to build a brick church of this size as you say, it is “located in the heart of one of the biggest granite production regions on the continent.” No accounting for natural resources then. It however a beautiful building and the doors are epic. 😊 xx
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It is a beautiful building though isn’t it. I’m thinking maybe at the time brick was cheaper or who knows? There does have to be a logical reason – I just didn’t find out what it was.
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Yes your right as you say it could just be esthetic!
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Lovely place! I am starting to think that Canada is the land of glorious churches. It may need to be readjusted on my bucket list in a higher priority…especially since our elections are over. It seems like a wonderful place to take a doorscursion or two or thirty.
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Thanks Michelle. The province of Québec, especially with our Roman Catholic heritage, has a lot of grand old (by new world standards) churches and cathedrals. Montreal, the Eastern Townships, and then Québec City would make a nice itinerary for a 7-10 trip. And my reciprocal doorscursion offer stands. If you guys do make it up this way, we’ll be happy to show you around a bit if our schedules allow it.
Plus things are gonna he hopping here all next year. Montreal will be celebrating it’s 375th birthday in 2017 and Canada is turning 150. You can tell I’m in sales and marketing, right? 😀
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I do need to see if I can plan a trip one day. It looks so lovely. And, 2017 does sound exciting!!
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Beautiful colors. Red brick, red doors and the white paint contrast… it all looks so fresh. Doors and windows are all very attractive too, what a lovely place…
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Thanks Vicky. It seemed to be a well maintained building.
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