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 de Saint-Eustache – Vieux Saint-Eustache, Québec
Northwest of Montréal you’ll find the historically significant town of Saint-Eustache. This small community was founded in 1770 around a flour mill built on the du Chene River.
As indicated by this mural across the street from the Church, the town was the site of the last battle of the Lower Canada rebellion of les Patriotes in 1837.
The rebellions against the British that took place in 1837-38 in both Ontario (Upper Canada) and Québec (Lower Canada) are considered Canada’s unsuccessful war of independence.
The desire for political autonomy and the right to self-determination were the main reasons, and of course at the time these were not rights that the British were ready to allow.
After months of battles across the Lower Canada countryside, that included the imposing of Marshall Law in Montréal, the British finally gained the upper hand over the rebels.
With the last of the rebels holed up in Saint-Eustache, British Commander Sir John Colborne was dispatched along with close to 1500 troops and a few dozen cannons to quash the rebellion once and for all.
Upon their arrival on December 14th much of the village was burned to the ground by the British. Between this and seeing how heavily outnumbered and over-matched they were, many of the Patriotes rebels simply fled or layed down their arms.
Those that remained retreated and set up positions in the upper windows of the town’s Church; assuming they stood a better chance from these higher positions.
They also assumed that the British wouldn’t attempt to burn down a place of worship.
They were wrong.
The battle lasted about four hours with Colborne and his troops laying siege to the Church. With the exception of the main facade they burned most of the structure to the ground, and shot or captured the remaining rebels as they escaped from the burning building.
Though the church was rebuilt in the 1840’s, today the scars from the bullet holes and cannon balls can still be found in the stone walls.
When we last visited in the summer the main doors were open, welcoming visitors for guided tours of this National Historic Site
Though we didn’t get to photograph the main doors, at least we had the chance to go inside and check out the beautiful interior 🙂
One of the other interesting things about this church is its world-renowned acoustic qualities due in part to the curved ceiling.
In the 1980’s and 90’s Conductor Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra recorded a number of their all-time biggest selling, Grammy-winning albums here. Classical concerts are still held here year-round and are a real treat, with wonderfully even sound virtually anywhere you sit.
On the way out we did find a few other nice doors as well 🙂
I find it somewhat heartwarming to know that a place that had seen such ruthless violence 180 years ago, helps make beautiful music today.
As always, thanks so much for visiting 🙂
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I loved your photos of all different parts of this elegant church, Norm. My favorite is the one of the golden oak pews, looking back into the double balconies! Wow! hugs to you and the Mrs. 💕
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I love the rustic wood doors.
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Beautiful find Norm! I always love to hear the history behind those old buildings. I’m sure that the remnants of bullet wounds to its exterior just add to its character. That interior is phenomenal. It is wonderful that after the atrocities that it witnessed, it can be a home to beautiful music.
Those doors are a great bonus. I love that last one inset into the old stonework!
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Thanks Amy 🙂
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Beautiful, Norm. Old stone and history- it doesn’t get much better than that.
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Thanks Jennie 🙂
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You’re welcome, Norm.
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I like that mural. The inside of that church is beautiful. My uncle is an organist. I bet he would love this church.
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I’m sure he would – thanks 🙂
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The wood work is incredible. It is heartbreaking the little regard men have for things, especially sacred things… 😦
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Thank you! Sadly that lack of regard has been going on for a very long time.
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I have never seen a cannon ball scar – that was cool – and great post, N….
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Thank you!
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🙂
and hope you have a nice week Norm 2.0
🙂
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What a beautiful interior, Norm. A concert there would be amazing to hear live. The historical info was new to me and very interesting – we have similar accounts in Irish history. Sad that so much life has to be lost over political struggles.
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Thanks Jean. Yes unfortunately those who rule don’t always do so benevolently 😉
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To hear a concert in here would be quite something. I hope you can do it one day.
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Thanks Manja. It would indeed. We’re keeping an eye out for one so hopefully soon 🙂
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Hi Norm. I am back using a new blogging site. As a Brit, I was completely unaware of the failed war of independence in the 1830s. Dastardly deeds, burning churches. But the doors are great. This week, my doors are from a museum, so they are really old.
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Thanks Ian. Sadly, the Brits hold no monopoly on dastardly deeds. Being unusually cruel to others for any number of reasons, seems to be a universally human character flaw.
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Having just returned from two months working with Rohingya refugees fleeing from murder and repression in Myanmar, I know only too well
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Beautiful church, Norm. I love the stone building and the bright and beautiful interior is so inviting! Nice doors, too! 🙂
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Thanks Angela. I find the bright interior is a nice change from all the dark dim lighting in most churches.
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What a peaceful and lovely place with ethereal ceilings, ornate wooden pews, stone walls, and interesting doors. My favorite is the last door, so much character. Thank you for sharing the history as beauty was reborn from the ashes. A reminder of hope.
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Thank you Brenda – that last one was my fave of the batch as well 🙂
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I really appreciate the history you share along with your doors. Being from the US, my knowledge of Canadian history is woefully meager.
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Thank you. It’s sad though. So much of Canadian and US history is intertwined. Things that were happening there affected what happened here, just as much of what took place here influenced outcomes there, yet somehow most of the US has chosen to ignore this fact.
Glad I was able to help change that a bit 🙂
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We just didn’t learn much about it in school, unfortunately.
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What a gorgeous church and beautiful doors! I love that the interior is so light and bright, as opposed to many of the impressive, but dark, cathedrals we see so much of. I would love to experience a concert there.
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Thanks. The bright interior is a refreshing change indeed 🙂
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Thanks, Norm. Simply beautiful interior 🙂
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Thank you 🙂
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The interior of the church is beautiful. Although I am often in St. Eustache I have never been inside this church. Vieux St. Eustache is such an interesting place.
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It’s worth taking a few minutes to explore the inside as well. I’d love to see a concert in there. We’re keeping an eye out for that.
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The ceiling of this church is ingenious, and a beautifully coffered one. A church with bullet holes is better than an abandoned building! The history behind its scars is poignant – thanks for providing it for us:)
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Thank you 🙂
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Naturally, the weathered door at the last was my favorite. The contrast between it and the grandeur of the rest of the structure touches me.
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Thanks Marian. That weathered one was a surprising discovery in a little corner halfway around the building. That’s why I try to go around the entire building when possible – you never know what treasure you’ll find 🙂
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Beautiful woodwork! Coincidently I just watched a movie that was set in Canada at the time of the rebellions (Alias Grace)
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Thanks Jan.
Is that based on the Atwood book? There’s a mini-series coming out on that soon too, or perhaps that’s what you saw. I’m looking forward to checking that out.
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Too bad. Saint
Eustache
Had no
moustache.
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Aha…good one 😀
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What an interesting little piece of history Norm. As I was reading, I was think exactly what Joanne mentioned in her comment, history would have so much more interesting in school had they talked about some these kinds of historical events. How lovely it would be to sit in this beautiful space & listen to music!
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Thanks Lynn. Connecting to the past is always easier when you have something tangible or relevant in front of you. I got lucky in high school I guess; we had an incredibly engaging history teacher who helped us make that connection to the past. I’ve been fascinated by history ever since 🙂
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Norm, I really enjoy reading your narratives about the history of the places you photograph. This was no exception! I am envisioning a road trip back to the province of Quebec to see some of these places!
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Thank you. Glad you enjoyed. The outlying burbs especially around Montreal and Quebec City are littered with historic towns and villages 🙂
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So beautiful, and you had me at history. A great story.
I have often wanted to ask you, what gave you the idea to use doors as your theme?
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Thank you! Since taking up photography in 2009 I’ve always noticed doors, mostly for the architectural/design aspect, though. I hadn’t thought of them as a theme on their own.
It was a prompt from another Montreal photography blogger that got me started posting my doors as a weekly theme.
At one point she just stopped blogging and I just kept it going. Eventually I made it into a link-up event and the rest as they say, is history.
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Very cool. It’s always good to see something no one else is doing, and it works–
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Excellent read. Love the last door with the old stonework.
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Thank you Sherry 🙂
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What a wonderful piece of history, Norm. Studying the Rebellion of 1836-37 as a child would have been so much more interesting if it was injected with these bits of information.
Can you imagine attending a concert of a symphony orchestra in that church? Wow.
… and the towers on the church!! Gorgeous!
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Thanks Joanne. It’s a beautiful building. We’ll put it on your Montreal list for your next visit here 🙂
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Excellent!
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Gorgeous place, Norm. Lovely way to start my morning. The bullet holes, et al reminds me of a church in Normandy where there were bullet holes from German fire.
janet
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Thanks Janet. Bullet holes in churches – a somber reminder that our species still has some evolving to do 😦
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My youngest is a member of our local Symphony. These are the places she dreams of playing 🙂
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I`m sure she’d love it 🙂
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This church is magnificent! The beauty of the workmanship is awesome. Great history lesson. I actually like all the doors, but you saved the best for last. —-Ginger—-
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Thanks Ginger. I though the last door had the most charm 🙂
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Really a beautiful place, Norm. I love the coffered ceilings and the carved pews. Now it seems serene and peaceful. Very interesting history.
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Thank you Debi. It is a beautiful place indeed 🙂
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Stone church. Beautiful interior. Storied history and I love that last little door. You touched all the bases today, Norm. I like the picture looking back. The double-level loft in the back really helps give a sense of the grand scale of this building. Excellent doors post!
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Thanks Dan it’s a special place to visit 🙂
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Ah, what a beautiful place! Your shot of the front of it is wonderful, but the inside nearly took my breath away! I loved that bit, “a place that had seen such ruthless violence 180 years ago, helps make beautiful music today” — that’s a lovely sentiment.
And of course, great doors!
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Thanks Joey. The interior is so bright and airy, that alone can be uplifting I think 🙂
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