Notre-Dame is only one of many beautiful churches in the city. It's a neogothic building dating from 1829, constructed on the site of a much older and smaller church, which had been outgrown by its parishioners. Everything about the basilica is on a grand scale.

The twin towers are 228 feet high and the western tower holds the 12-ton le Gros Bourdon, the largest bell on the continent. Notre Dame is noted for its lavish and beautiful interior:

• Stained glass windows
• Paintings
• Statues
• Thousands of 24-karat gold stars on its vaulted ceilings
• Ornately decorated pulpit

It also has a notable 7000-pipe Casavant organ, the largest on the continent. Sometimes called “the wedding chapel,” hundreds of Montrealers get married at Notre Dame every year. In fact, this is where Celine Dion was married in 1994.

Notre Dame is an active house of worship, so touring must be done in between regularly scheduled masses. Montreal's Notre-Dame Basilica has nothing in common with Paris's except the name.

Find Notre Dame Basilica at 110 rue Notre-Dame Ouest.