St. Germain Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

 located in Rimouski (Québec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

). It is the mother church for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rimouski

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rimouski

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rimouski is a Roman Catholic archdiocese that includes part of the Province of Quebec and includes the suffragan dioceses of Baie-Comeau, and the Gaspé. It is led by Archbishop Pierre-Andre Fournier....

.

The church was raised to the status of cathedral on 15 January 1867, by Jean Langevin

Jean Langevin

Jean-Pierre-François-Laforce Langevin, , was born and lived his life in Quebec. He was taught by a governess before entering the Petit Séminaire de Quebec. He began his studies for the priesthood at the Grand Séminaire and taught back at his old school, a vocation he continued after he was ordained...

, first bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of Rimouski and was consecrated on 28 May 1853.

Building

The exterior of the cathedral is of neo-Gothic influence with pointed arch windows decorated with stained glass

Stained glass

The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...

, buress and pinnacles while the interior is influenced by the Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 style with its ceiling that looks like a diagonal rib vault. Grey stones were used to build the outside. The main vault is 28 m (90 ft) high and the interior one is 18 m (60 ft) high. Three bells, weighting 1,641 kg in total were installed in 1891. The cathedral is famous for its Casavant Frères

Casavant Frères

Casavant Frères is a prominent Canadian company in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, which has been building fine pipe organs since 1879. As of 2008, they have produced over 3800 organs.- Company history :...

organ.

Joseph J.B. Verret (architect) designed the Bishop's Palace (1901-01) for Monseigneur A.A. Blais, of St. Germain Roman Catholic Cathedral

History

The cathedral was spared from the nuit rouge ("Red Night") on 6 May 1950, when nearly half of the town was burnt down by a fire that started at the Price Brothers Company sawmill. Legend has it that a priest sprinkled holy water around the city's cathedral and that the fire would not cross the line.

External Links

• Archdiocese of Rimouski page at catholichierarchy.org Retrieved 19 April 2008.