Through My Lens: Holy Rosary Cathedral

It seems like five minutes ago we were facing the start of winter and now, here we are, already back in the Season of Lent. For this year’s Lenten series, I’m going to take you on a tour of the churches of downtown Vancouver. My photo choice for today, the First Sunday of Lent, is Holy Rosary Cathedral. Its full name is the Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, and it serves as the cathedral for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver.

A church has stood on the site since 1885; construction on this building began in 1899 and was completed in just over a year. The architecture is late nineteenth-century French Gothic revival, a style common throughout Canada during the time period. Its walls are built from Gabriola Island sandstone.

These days, large building projects seem to take years to complete. What amazes me about the speed at which this church was built is that the population of Vancouver at the time was a mere 26,000 people.