The First Churches
The first chapel was destroyed by flood waters in 1826. Construction of the first church, built of oak logs, had started in 1819, and was not finished until 1825 because of lack of funds.
Construction of a second church, with twin turrets, began in 1832. Although construction was not quite finished, it was blessed in 1839 much to Bishop Provencher’s approval. The bells of this church – it becomes a cathedral in 1847 when Provencher is named bishop of the Diocese of Saint-Boniface – were casted by Mears of Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London, England in 1840. They weighed 1,600 lbs. On December 14, 1860, a terrible fire destroyed the cathedral. Only the bells were saved.
Construction of the second cathedral (the third church), Bishop Taché’s cathedral, started in 1862 and the work is finally completed in 1884. The bells of the old cathedral having been shipped back to England in 1862 to be recasted, were returned and installed in the new cathedral’s belfry. This cathedral was eventually demolished in 1909 after the construction of a third and more spacious cathedral (the 4th chruch - approximately 2,500 places) behind the previous ones.
