4 Best Sights in Quebec City, Quebec

Welcome to the oldest stone church in North America! The fortress shape of the altar is no accident; this small, but beautiful stone church on Place Royale is linked to a bellicose past. Grateful French colonists named it in honor of the Virgin Mary, whom they credited with helping French forces defeat two British invasions: one in 1690 by Admiral William Phipps and the other by Sir Hovendon Walker in 1711. The church itself was built in 1688, making it the city's oldest—it has been restored twice since then. Several interesting paintings decorate the walls, and a model of Le Brezé, the boat that transported French soldiers to New France in 1664, hangs from the ceiling. The side chapel is dedicated to Ste. Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris.

François de Laval, the first bishop of New France and founder of Canada's Catholic Church, once ruled a diocese that stretched to the Gulf of Mexico. Videos and pictures astutely illustrate his life throughout the visit.

Laval's original cathedral burned down and has been rebuilt several times, but the current basilica still has a chancel lamp that was a gift from Louis XIV, the Sun King. The church's interior includes a canopy dais over the Episcopal throne, a ceiling of painted clouds decorated with gold leaf, and richly colored stained-glass windows. A "holy door" was added to the church in 2014. The large crypt was Québec City's first cemetery; more than 900 bodies are interred here, including, perhaps, Samuel de Champlain; archaeologists have been searching for his tomb since 1950. Guided tours of the cathedral and crypt are available (by appointment only).

The first Anglican cathedral outside the British Isles was erected in the heart of Québec City's Upper Town between 1800 and 1804. Its simple, dignified façade is reminiscent of London's St. Martin-in-the-Fields, and the pediment, archway, and Ionic pilasters introduced Palladian architecture to Canada. The land on which the cathedral was built was originally given to the Récollets (Franciscan monks from France) in 1681 by the king of France for a church and monastery. When Québec came under British rule, the Récollets made the church available to the Anglicans for services. Later, King George III ordered construction of the present cathedral, with an area set aside for members of the royal family. A portion of the north balcony is still reserved for the use of the reigning sovereign or his or her representative. The cathedral's impressive rear organ has 3,058 pipes. Even more impressive is the smaller English chamber organ, built in 1790, which was donated to the cathedral for the bicentennial celebrations in 2004.

Founded in 1639, the chapel and its Couvent des Ursulines is the oldest institution of learning for women in North America. It houses the finest examples of wood carving anywhere in Québec, gilded by the nuns themselves. 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 Ursulines is still an active elementary school today.