St. Dunstan's Basilica

46°14′01″N 63°07′31″W / 46.2336°N 63.1254°W / 46.2336; -63.1254Location45 Great George Street
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
C1A 4K1CountryCanadaDenominationCatholic ChurchWebsitestdunstanspei.com/ArchitectureArchitect(s)François-Xavier Berlinguet^[1]Groundbreaking1896, 1913 (reconstruction after fire)Completed1907SpecificationsNumber of spires2Spire height200 feet (61 m)^[1]AdministrationArchdioceseDiocese of Charlottetown Official nameSt. Dunstan's Roman Catholic Cathedral / Basilica National Historic Site of CanadaDesignated1990

St. Dunstan's Basilica is the cathedral of the Diocese of Charlottetown in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is named for St. Dunstan, the Anglo Saxon saint from Glastonbury. It is located on Great George Street, between the harbour and the Confederation Centre of the Arts.

History

The original St Dunstan's Cathedral was built from 1897 to 1907. The present stone structure was built from 1913 to 1919 after a fire destroyed the original cathedral in 1913. It was built in the Georgian Revival architectural style.

In 1929, 10 years after its completion, the church was blessed by Pope Pius XI as a basilica. To this day, the church stands as one of the 27 basilicas in Canada.

In October 1980 it was the site of a state funeral when Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau gave the eulogy during the funeral for Veterans Affairs Minister Daniel J. MacDonald (M.P. Cardigan). The basilica was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1990.^[1]

References

Further reading

• Peter Ludlow, The Canny Scot: Archbishop James Morrison of Antigonish' (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2015)

External links

• Official website
• Media related to St. Dunstan's Cathedral (Charlottetown) at Wikimedia Commons