Le presbytère / The Rectory

Built in 1853, the Sainte-Flavie rectory was first inhabited by Moses Duguay, the parish's first priest. This large Quebec house reflects both the importance of the Catholic Church in the nineteenth century and the era's neoclassical architectural fashion, inspired by Greco-Roman and Renaissance models and expressed in the symmetry of its windows and dormers, its two large galleries, and its grand central staircase. By 1908 the building had become badly dilapidated and nearly faced demolition, but it was renovated instead and survived. In 1992, the municipality of Sainte-Flavie acquired and restored it with help from the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communications, returning the exterior walls and cedar shingle roof to their former appearance. Today the old rectory serves as a cultural center with a library and art gallery.

Quebec · Canada