Cathedral of Sherbrooke

Cathedral St-Michel of Sherbroole

The Cathedral St-Michel of Sherbrooke, the seat of the Archidiocèse of Sherbrooke, was built on the heights of the St-Michel cliff just a step of the downtown. Perched on an acropolis, it overlooks Sherbrooke and its surroundings with is massive figure and looks like a fortress. The cathedral reveals the evolutional spirit of its main architect, Louis-Napoléon Audet. The first church at the site of the Cathedral St-Michel was completed in 1826.

That church was dedicated to St. Columban, but it 1854, a new St.Michel church was built here. The church was 41 meters long by 15 meters wide church that would become the first cathedral in 1874. Its construction was carried out at the cost of $5,200. Pope Pius IX created the Diocese of Sherbrooke twenty years later, thus Bishop Antoine Racine chose this church as cathedral of Sherbrooke. Construction of a new cathedral began in 1956.

Materials from neighbouring regions were used to build exterior walls: granite came from St. Sébastien, bricks were manufactured in East-Angus and Richmond, and terra cotta came from Terra Cotta Co., of Montreal.

While the old cathedral was facing south, the new chancel faces east. Ogival windows give the building a Medieval look. The cathedral has 105 stained glass windows - 34 large windows, 11 medium, and 60 small, executed between 1959 and 1965 by master glassmaker Raphaël Laudeur, from Paris, upon drawings by Brother Gerard Brassard.

A large main altar is installed right in the center of the chancel. The polished granite table, from Chicoutimi, is 12 feet long by 8 feet wide. It is supported by eight onyx pillars, from Maroc, and two green marble columns from St. Barthelemy. The cathedral was consecrated in June, 1959 by Bishop Georges Cabana.