Notre Dame Convent in Morinville Click Here to Listen (2:47)
Morinville is named after its founder, Abbe Jean Baptiste Morin.
According to historian Dorothy Field, from the very beginning,
Morinville was a religious centre for French-speaking Catholics
who settled in the region. The first church was built in
Morinville in 1891. It was a small log building. It was replaced
quite quickly, in 1894, when the population outgrew the original
building, with a larger log structure. That in turn was replaced
in 1907 with quite a large and ornate wood-frame building. And
that building is actually still there, although you might not
guess it, because in 1929 it was covered over with brick. The
church, as it exists today, is very much in the French- Canadian
style. There are other examples, in Edmonton and in St. Albert.
It’s a basic, rectangular floor plan, but it has a bell tower in
the front centre of the church and two small towers on either
side, which are really quite distinctive. Inside the church
there is quite a