Église Notre Dame de l’Assomption {Former Cathedral} - Arichat, Nova Scotia. Notre Dame de l'Assomption is located in Arichat, Richmond County, on the highway that runs from Arichat to Petit de Grat …More
Église Notre Dame de l’Assomption {Former Cathedral} - Arichat, Nova Scotia.

Notre Dame de l'Assomption is located in Arichat, Richmond County, on the highway that runs from Arichat to Petit de Grat on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Opened in A.D. 1837, Notre Dame is a combination of Neo-Classical and Gothic Revival style church, and is the oldest surviving Catholic church in Nova Scotia.

Construction of the church began in A.D. 1835 with the arrival of Reverend Jean-Baptiste Maranda in Arichat. The church that was in use at the time was in very poor condition so Reverend Maranda thought a new and larger church should be built. Initially the decision was to use stone but that was beyond the means of the congregation so wood was imported from Tracadie, in nearby Antigonish County on the mainland, and used as the building material.

The church officially opened on Sunday, October 15, A.D. 1837. Work, however, continued for another two years. The building measures one hundred and sixty feet in length. It has two rows of short windows, the upper row affording light for the galleries, which extends around three sides of the interior. The pews are of the boxed and closed type. The church has one central spire with a belfry.

When Bishop MacKinnon moved from Antigonish to Arichat in A.D. 1853, the church became the cathedral church for the newly-created diocese of Arichat. Bishop MacKinnon was responsible for the installation of two liturgical aids, still in use in the church. The first was the purchase of the large oil painting of the Assumption, to surmount the altar. The second was the importation of a pipe organ from Philadelphia in A.D. 1858.