Thursday 19 April 2012

A Library in a Church

Here's another unexpected Quebec find. We stumbled on this church, sensitively converted into a public library - two of my favourite things in one, churches and libraries! - while looking for the Protestant Graveyard (which turned out to be closed). Once serving as the church of St Matthew, it is now the St Jean-Baptiste public library, but the original building and its furnishings still seem to be quite intact - which is a good thing, as this church was inspired by St Oswald's in Liverpool, an important early creation of Pugin's, of which nothing now remains save the tower. The craftsmanship on display inside St Matthew's/St Jean Baptiste is very impressive, from the beautifully carved wooden rood screen to the elegant arcade and the fine metalwork of the lamps and the splendid font cover suspended from the baldachin that can be seen in the picture. I wish there were more images of this fine Gothic church, but sadly I can't find any...

3 comments:

  1. Welcome back Nige! Lovely stuff...

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  2. Yes, welcome back, Nige.

    This made me think immediately of the John Rylands Library on Deansgate in Manchester - not a former church but...... well, just look at this.....

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Rylands_Library_12.jpg

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  3. Wow! That's what I call a library...

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