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Couvent des Ursulines Review
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Couvent des Ursulines
-
Ursuline Convent
- Category: Religious Sites
- Location: Upper Town
Fodor's Review:
North America's oldest teaching institution for girls, still a private school, was founded in 1639 by French nun Marie de l'Incarnation and laywoman Madame de la Peltrie. The convent has many of its original walls intact and houses a little chapel and a museum. The Chapelle des Ursulines (Ursuline Chapel, 10 rue Donnacona, Upper Town. No phone. Free. Chapel May-Oct., Tues.-Sat. 10-11:30 and 1:30-4:30; Sun. 1:30-4:30) is where French general Louis-Joseph Montcalm was buried after he died in the 1759 battle that decided the fate of New France. In September 2001 Montcalm's remains were transferred to rest with those of his soldiers at the Hôpital Général de Québec's cemetery, at 260 boulevard Langelier. The exterior of the Ursuline Chapel was rebuilt in 1902, but the interior contains the original chapel, which took sculptor Pierre-Noël Levasseur from 1726 to 1736 to complete. The votive lamp was lighted in 1717 and has never been extinguished. The Musée des Ursulines (12 rue Donnacona, Upper Town. 418/694-0694. C$6. Museum May-Sept., Tues.-Sat. 10-noon and 1-5, Sun. 1-5; Oct., Nov., and Feb.-Apr., Tues.-Sun. 1-4:30) was once the residence of Madame de la Peltrie. The museum provides an informative perspective on 120 years of the Ursulines' life under the French regime, from 1639 to 1759. It took an Ursuline nun nine years of training to attain the level of a professional embroiderer; the museum contains magnificent pieces of ornate embroidery, such as altar frontals with gold and silver threads intertwined with semiprecious jewels. In the lobby of the museum is the Centre Marie-de-l'Incarnation (10 rue Donnacona, Upper Town. 418/694-0413. May-Oct., Tues.-Sat. 10-11:30 and 1:30-4:30, Sun. 1:30-4:30; Feb.-Apr., Tues.-Sun. 1:30-4:30), a center with an exhibit and books for sale on the life of the Ursulines' first superior, who came from France and cofounded the convent.
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