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.
L’Église de L’Assomption-de-la-Sainte-Vierge – L’Assomption (Québec)
The weather has finally turned sunny but too little too late for me to get out doorscursioning so it’s back to the archives for me this week. I’m dipping into the last of my pics from our recent stroll around the 300 year-old town of L’Assomption.
As was often the case at the time in French Catholic Canada, the church got dibs on the all best real estate, so this church was built on a prime spot at the top of a hill in the center of the old village.
Replacing a church built on the same site in 1752, it is made primarily of locally quarried grey stone. Construction started in 1819 and was completed in late 1820. It was expanded further in 1863-64 to make it more resemble a cathedral, and also to rebuild the bell towers that had not fared well through the harsh winters.
In the 1990’s the neighboring seminary that was built in the 1870’s, was converted into the town’s library and community cultural center.
Today the church also plays host to piano recitals and organ concerts as part of the region’s yearly Festival de Lanaudière summer classical music festival.
To give you an idea of what the inside is like, here are a few pre-show shots from a recital we attended there a few years ago. As you might have guessed, I can confirm that the acoustics in this place are pretty good.
Note: I will be out of touch for most of the day on Thursday, so I’ll be slower than usual in answering comments and getting around to everyone’s posts, but will be around when I can.
As always, thanks so such for visiting 🙂
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Beautiful church outside and inside.
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Norm, a 300 year old heritage is so awe inspiring and full of so many stories. The Church, seminary exteriors and interiors were full of beauty and true Grace.
The winding staircase with the built in podium or pedestal to sing or preach from was unique and ornately beautiful.
Due to my crazy schedule, I am making late rounds. I enjoyed going to our Arts Festival yesterday and probably could have delayed my posts and visited people first. . .
Hope you had a lovely weekend!
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I’m glad you opened those doors to take us inside for a tour.
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Beautiful building, and what a lovely interior!
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Thank you!
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Such loveliness. Sorry I’m such a crab today, but sharing some door photos made me feel better, if hotter. 🙂
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Thanks. I hope you’re feeling better soon 🙂
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You always delight me with your doors. Amazing photos.
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Thank you Cee 🙂
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Fabulous! 🤔💝
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Thanks 😀
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🤗💝
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Beautiful collection, Norm. I’m always amazed how RC churches often look somewhat like castles, especially the first one in L’Assomption.
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Thank you!
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Great doors, Norm. I love the symmetry of the massive building in that top photo. That’s such a handsome and strong looking building. I also love the shot inside with the spiral staircase heading up to the little platform. Great job getting some challenging photos.
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Thank you Dan 🙂
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These are great, Norm. I’m glad you got them out of the archive!
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Thanks Angela – I’m glad I had them there to be able to use this week 🙂
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Great photos! The doors and architecture of the church are fantastic but it still takes a good photographer to make them look good in the photos!
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Thank you!
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The symmetry and the attention to detail are beautiful.
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Yes I agree – Thanks Vanessa 🙂
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Sorry I’m so late. This week is madness. I feel better that you’re busy too 🙂
The bell towers are gorgeous, but even the rebuilt versions look about ten times older than the rest of the building!
The interior is beautiful, of course, because what else is gilding good for? 😛
The windows are amazing!
Maybe you’ll get some sunshine this weekend?
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Thanks Joey. The weather has finally gotten better, now I just need to get out with my camera. We have a holiday here on Monday and I’ve got a bunch of ideas for doorscursions.
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Hurrah! 🙂
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Such an elegant interior – wow. Those old stone building really do stand the test of time, don’t they?
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They do indeed, Jan. Longer and more expensive to build but worth it in the long run 😃
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Locally quarried stone – I like that idea -in those days they knew how to do things a lot more frugally! Same with knowing the acoustics – not needing microphones and the whole bit. Love the speaking platform. Personally I like light stone more than darker. A very nice and fitting set of doors. If all your archives look this good, you got it covered!
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Thanks but unfortunately I’m overdue to restock the archives as the shelves are almost bare. I hope to get out to explore soon.
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A lovely place, so elegant outside and in. The Bell towers at first look slightly incongruous, but then you get used to them!
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Thanks Vicky, I agree 🙂
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Every Thursday is a happy day, seeing your amazing pictures. Merçi beaucoup. J’ai hâte de voir plus des photos !!!!!!
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Thanks for the kind words – so glad you’re enjoying our fun little club 🙂
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Fabulous buildings, once again. They look much more modern than they are. I’ve gone back to the middle ages this week 🙂
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Thanks Luccia. What I find most fascinating is how well preserved it is. Winters can be very hard on buildings here.
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C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la gare🙂
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Merci mon ami 🙂
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Beautiful building inside and out, Norm. It’s the same here in Ireland as regards positioning of Churches They are usually the first thing you see of a town, placed at it’s highest point – unless a castle has been put there first. 🙂
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“Unless a castle had been put there first” 😀
Priorities, after all!
Sadly, no castles around here. Just lots of well located churches 😉
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The church is absolutely stunning inside!
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Thanks Colline. Simple yet elegant, and perfectly fitting for a catholic church from that time 🙂
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As impressive as the outside is, the inside is even better. Happy Thursday, Norm.
janet
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Thanks Janet – it was a wonderful place for a concert too 🙂
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What a pulpit!! You’ve totally persuaded me to go out and take a look at L’Assomption!
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Thanks Susi. Yes it is a lovely little town, especially the older/historical section. Joliette is another one in the area that I want to explore a little more as well. In fact there are lots of small towns and villages in the Lanaudière region worth visiting.
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The churches of old always seem to be quite magnificent! And this one is no exception. 🙂 The interior is gorgeous as well! The cream and gold leafing remind me of Versailles. Stunning! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
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Thanks Amy. Yes, back in the day, they sure did fancy up the churches around here. An awful lot of resources and dedication was put into making these spaces people would want to come back to often.
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As long as there is a church in the general vicinity, you will always have ample fuel for a Thursday Door post! This is another beauty, Norm. Great indoor shots. Usually the interiors of churches are so hard to photograph.
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Thanks Joanne. I think with the number of old churches around here I’ll have enough material for years to come – just need to make time to get out and photograph them 😉
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Every week I’m grateful for the dependability of Thursdays and doors and Norm. 🙂
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Thanks Manja that’s very kind of you to say. I really do want to keep this going, mostly because it’s so much fun, but lately it has been harder to make the time.
No worries though; I have plans for doorscursions in the next few weeks that should give me content through the rest of the summer 🙂
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Another beautiful example of wonderful Canadian architecture and history. 🙂 Hope your business ventures are going as you dreamed.
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Thanks Judy.The business is keeping me very busy but I am having more fun with work than I have in a long time. I’ll be posting an update about it soon.
Cheers 🙂
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