On Route 138, east of Québec City, this small town is named for Québec's patron saint, and each year more than a million pilgrims visit the region's most famous religious site here, dedicated to the mother of the Virgin Mary.
The French brought their devotion to St. Anne (also the patron saint of shipwrecked sailors) when they sailed across the Atlantic to New France. According to local legend, St. Anne was responsible over the years for saving voyagers from shipwrecks in the harsh waters of the St. Lawrence. In 1650 Breton sailors caught in a storm vowed to erect a chapel in honor of this patron saint at the exact spot where they landed.
The present neo-Roman basilica, constructed in 1923, is the fifth to be built on the site where the sailors first touched ground. The original 17th-century wood chapel was built too close to the St. Lawrence and was swept away by river flooding.
The gigantic structure is in the shape of a Latin cross, and has two imposing granite
steeples. The interior has 22 chapels and 18 altars, as well as rounded arches and numerous ornaments in the Romanesque style. The 214 stained-glass windows, completed in 1949, are by Frenchmen Auguste Labouret and Pierre Chaudière.
Tributes to St. Anne can be seen in the shrine's mosaics, murals, altars, and ceilings. A bas-relief at the entrance depicts St. Anne welcoming her pilgrims, and ceiling mosaics represent her life. Numerous crutches and braces posted on the back pillars have been left by those who have felt the saint's healing powers.
Musée de Sainte Anne. In the parking lot of the Basilique Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, this museum exhibits church treasures, including an impressive collection of votive offerings, many works of art, and donations made by pilgrims. 10018 av. Royale, G0A 3C0. 418/827–6873. www.sanctuairesainteanne.org. C$2. Daily 9:30–4:30.