Houses of the holy

>> A new Mile-End walking tour visits
historical places of worship

by NOEMI LOPINTO

On Sunday, October 6, the Mile-End Historical Society is unveiling its first-ever tour of former and current places of worship in Mile-End. Ordinary citizens who happen to be architecture and history buffs can examine Mile-End’s most beautiful buildings and find out who worshipped, worked or lived there, and for how long. The tour is called “Places of Worship in Transition,” and consists of a walking tour highlighting churches, synagogues, a visit to a few interiors and a reception to launch an illustrated pamphlet on 150 years of religious heritage.

“We are trying to show that we have an incredible collection of buildings here,” says Susan Bronson, the Montreal architect who designed the pamphlet and one of four who will be conducting the tours. “Many of these places of worship are still used for cultural or educational purposes. The other thing is that these buildings range from very modest to very monumental, from purpose designed [built for their original purpose] to converted rowhouses and industrial buildings. In terms of their architecture, they are extremely diverse.”

The tour makes its way to, among others, the 150-year-old Church of Saint-Enfant-Jésus, the Church of Saint Michael’s and Saint Anthony’s at the corner of St-Urbain and St-Viateur, and the Ahavath Sholem Nosach H’ari Synagogue, which has occupied a converted rowhouse on Jeanne-Mance above St-Viateur since the 1930s. In two and a half hours, in rain or shine, participants will also learn of the monumental B’Nai Jacob Synagogue, built on Fairmount West around 1920, which lost its outstanding interior and most of its façade when it was converted into the Collège Français in the 1960s. Also included is the Mount Royal Brethren Church, which became the Montefiore Hebrew Orphans’ Home in the 1920s, and is now the home of the Garderie Villeneuve and L’Hirondelle, a welcoming and integration centre for immigrants on Jeanne-Mance.

“It’s a great neighbourhood,” says Sarah Binder, who has been volunteering for the Society for a month. She says she expects Mile-End residents to come out in droves. “People have already shown tremendous interest. So many of our religious buildings are facing demolition or are in crisis because congregations are disappearing.”

The changes that were made with each congregational transformation range from minor to very drastic. If you know what to look for, you can find these traces. For example, the Ukrainian Community Centre on Hutchison has boarded up a small round window on its façade, inscribed with a Star of David, a leftover from its days as a synagogue. According to Bronson, Mile-End architecture very much reflects demographic changes over time. “Mile-End was seen as a place of transition,” says Bronson. “They all illustrate a different approach to modifying a building for a new purpose. I find it fascinating that some congregations decided to use what was there as much as possible while others thought the building needed redefining.”

The tour starts from the Church Saint-Enfant-Jésus, 5039 St-Dominique. All tour participants are invited to a reception hosted by the City of Montreal at the Mile-End Library (5434 Parc) on Sunday, October 6. The walk takes place between 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., with the reception from 3:30–5 p.m. Cost for the tour is $10 per person. For more info: 842-0722. :