Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel

The Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel is identifiable by the copper statue of the Virgin Mary perched atop its roof, where she faces the St. Lawrence River with arms outstretched. Founded in sixteen fifty-five by Marguerite Bourgeoys, the city's first teacher, this site originated as a stone pilgrimage church for the early settlers of Ville-Marie. After a fire destroyed the original structure in seventeen fifty-four, the current building was erected on the same site in seventeen seventy-one.