Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal unveiled its restored facade on 25 October after years behind scaffolding. The opening marks a completed stage in a wider conservation project that continues inside and outside the building. Historic painted decoration remains part of the work, while the unveiling programme combines orchestral music and an organ performance.
Notre-Dame Basilica in Old Montreal, Canada, presented its restored facade to the public on 25 October. The unveiling followed years of masonry repairs behind scaffolding. An earlier Canadian Press account had identified the same date for the presentation and described the facade restoration as complete. Work continues elsewhere in the approximately 200-year-old building, including the interior and other exterior areas.[1], [2]
The wider restoration covers both the exterior and interior, with an estimated cost of 100 million dollars. Conservators seek to preserve historic murals and painted decoration rather than repaint them. Michel Issa, general manager of the parish body responsible for the basilica, described checking individual stones and cutting replacements to fit where necessary. Donations, fundraising and the Le Firmament café’s partnership with Café Saint-Henri help finance the work.[1]
The programme combined performances on the plaza and inside the basilica. It included the Société philharmonique du Nouveau Monde, a musical ensemble, with more than 150 musicians under Michel Brousseau’s artistic direction, and an organ interlude by Jean-Willy Kunz. Heritage Montréal policy director Dinu Bumbaru pointed to a conservation challenge beyond the ceremony: closed quarries have made matching the original stone harder to obtain.[1]
