618 - Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal
Today I took photos of yet another monolithic church. This one aptly named the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal.
Can you guess where it is? We finally made it up to poutine country.
This church in particular, however, sufficiently blew my mind- a rarity in my ever-expanding catalog of prolific churches.
Visited by approximately 11 million people every year, (and grossing roughly $176 million per year, via daily entrance rate of $16 / person,) has some of the most meticulous architecture I’ve ever seen.
Just take a look at this photo:
The shot is so highly detailed that at first glance, it appears I maxed out the Texture slider in Lightroom. In reality, there’s carvings everywhere, and the attention to detail is far beyond OCD. I also appreciated the inspiration they clearly drew from James Wan’s 2018 rendition of Aquaman. The color palette is nearly identical.
The church wasn’t without its flaws, however. The place was packed to the gills, to the point where moving around was even difficult. The crowd would rise and fall around the altar in waves, again feeling like some kind of metaphoric nod to Aquaman.
When there’s this many people in one spot, you simply have to accept that in order to get the shot, you’re going to be the asshole standing in front of everyone. My best advice is to hold your ground when you’re aligning those edges for precision symmetry, even as you can feel the eyes of everyone burning into your back as they wait for their turn to get the perfect iPhone photo.
After wading myself out of the congregation, I turned around and snagged this photo of the organ pipes:
A second contribution to my now official gallery of church organ pipes. (See St. Giles’ Cathedral) More to come in the future…
Finally, I decided it would be in my best interest to get a shot of a smaller scene. You know, to tie a ribbon on this thang. I walked up and down the isles, looking for something that caught my eye. Perhaps a column? Or a prayer altar?
I landed on this candlelit scene, namely because they clearly ripped it off the Aquaman Ring of Fire scene:
I loved the aesthetic cross, the haunting atmosphere, and the vivid painting in the background. The lack of symmetry in the scene was a hard pill to swallow (notice the hallway in the right,) but since it was so dark I felt like it was hardly noticeable.
Overall, I’d say it was worth the trip, even though all these Gothic churches are starting to blur together in my mind. We finished the day off with some escargot and baguette's at a local gastropub, to get the true French experience.
Stay tuned for my next adventure, where we’re heading down to The Biosphere to get some wacky architecture shots- even though it’s clearly based off The Orb from James Gunn’s 2014 rendition of Guardians of the Galaxy.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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