Our Tour of St Peter Celestine

Yesterday, with temperatures reaching 10C/50F, we headed about 20 minutes north to Pakenham where St Peter Celestine church was to be open for a tour. Locals consider this building to be one of the Seven Wonders to Lanark County, but we had never been inside. So, off we went, even cracking the car windows a little. Yay!

It's a very fine building, built in the Romanesque style often favoured by churches in neighbouring province of Quebec.

While waiting outside for the doors to open, we met a 94 year old man, who was baptized in this church. This photo shows him walking up the aisle with his son. Their height is somewhat exaggerated due to a wider angle lens pointing upward to include as much of the architecture as possible.

The tour guide (although it was more of a static lecture than a typical roaming tour) spoke for about an hour and was tremendously informative and interesting.

We learned that the building dates back to the late nineteenth century and was built by a mostly Irish community under the leadership of a priest named Lavin who was also originally Irish.

My interior photos were pretty quick and very ordinary as well as a little wonky with a wide angle lens, but here are a few.

When you enter the church, before you enter the sanctuary, you are directly under the Eye of God.

Having been refurbished in its 100th anniversary, the interior is clean and authentic. The bas relief artwork (if that is the right description) was restored to its original colours.

The podium is ornate and free-standing, unlike most.

It was a very good tour and lecture. For more information, there are two links included in the text above with more detail, and here is another.