Church of the Madonna della Difesa

Church of the Madonna della Difesa

Church of the Madonna della Difesa
Basic information
Location 6800 Henri-Julien Avenue,
Little Italy
Affiliation Roman Catholic
Province Quebec
Municipality Montreal
Year consecrated 1919
Status

Operational

Official name Church of Notre-Dame-de-la-Défense National Historic Site of Canada
Designated 2002
Leadership Archdiocese of Montreal
Architect(s) Roch Montbriant
Guido Nincheri
Architectural type Church
Architectural style Romanesque

The Church of the Madonna della Difesa (Italian: Chiesa della Madonna della Difesa, French: Église de Notre-Dame-de-la-Défense) is a Catholic church in Montreal's Little Italy, Canada. It was built by Italian immigrants to the city, specifically those from Molise, to commemorate the apparition of the Madonna in La Difesa, in Casacalenda, Molise. It was designed by Roch Montbriant and Quebec artist Guido Nincheri. It is Romanesque in style and laid out in a Greek-cross floorplan. It was inaugurated in 1919.

It is famous for its large cupola and brick façade, and especially its frescos by Guido Nincheri. A particularly well-known fresco depicts Benito Mussolini; painted before World War II, it commemorates his signing of the Lateran Accords. A statue in front of the church commemorates "victims of all wars."

Designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2002,[1] it is located at 6800 Henri-Julien Avenue at the corner of Dante Street (Jean-Talon or Beaubien metro stations) in the borough of Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie. Plaqued in 2005, the Church serves the oldest Italian community in Canada.[2]

Three priests serve at the church, Padre Luca Brancolini, Padre Giuseppe Manzini and Padre Jacques Duplouy; all are members of the Priestly Fraternity of the Missionaries of St.Charles Borromeo.

The apse
The interior
The transept crossing

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to the Church of the Madonna della Difesa.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, February 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.