| St. Andrews Cathedral (Victoria, British Columbia) | |
|---|---|
Third St. Andrews Cathedral |
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | High Victorian Gothic |
| Location | 740 View Street |
| Town or city | Victoria, BC |
| Country | Canada |
| Construction started | 1890 |
| Completed | 1892 |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | Red brick & terra cotta facade |
| Design and construction | |
| Client | Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria |
| Architect | Maurice Perrault and Albert Mesnard |
St. Andrew's Cathedral is the Roman Catholic cathedral for the diocese of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. Built in the High Victorian Gothic style, St. Andrew's was Victoria's third cathedral to be built. (The first, 1858–1884, is now the Chapel of St. Ann's Academy on Humboldt Street; the second, 1884–1892, was on the site behind the current building now occupied by the St. Andrew's Square office building.)
Construction for the new cathedral began in 1890. At 8:00am on October 30, 1892, Bishop Lemmens blessed the building before Pontifical High Mass was celebrated at 10:00am. The cathedral is now a designated historical building and a protected heritage site.
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Based on the plans for a church built in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, Perrault and Mesnard borrowed much from the medieval architecture of European churches. The double asymmetrical towers are typical of Quebec churches and a characteristic of the High Victorian Gothic style. This was an attempt to follow the "unfinished" look that made fourteenth and fifteenth century churches popular.
The nave is seventy-two feet long, with a rose window. The main tower boasts a 175-foot spire that was originally designed to hold a clock and a set of bells.
An altar was commissioned for use on the twenty-fifth anniversary of Bishop Remi Joseph De Roo's episcopal ordination. Carved by Charles Elliott, the first Native American to graduate from St. Louis College, the altar consists of two brentwood boxes. The boxes can be rotated to show four separate designs for the different liturgical seasons. The top of the altar or is carved from yellow cedar (Nootka Cypress) and weighs approximately four hundred pounds.
The cathedral also displays a carved lectern by artist Roy Henry Vickers. It depicts a black and red image of Christ, representing the crucified Christ and the risen Christ.
The cathedral houses a crypt, where three of Victoria's former Bishops are interred:
The Institute for stained glass in Canada has documented the stained glass at St Andrew's Catholic Cathedral. [1] There are 21 large Portland style stained glass windows. Also, two large rose windows with a smaller one above the gallery.